Extraordinary Genius Chapter 887

Extraordinary Genius

Chapter 887 - Problems with State-Owned Enterprisereforms

"Oh, Leader. I'm here to wish you a HappyNew Year. Why do you look so unhappy?" Feng Yu carried his gifts into ZhangRuiqiang's house, but Zhang Ruiqiang showed him a gloomy face.

"Just ignore him. I told him to think of away to transfer our son to a more relaxed position. See… he can't even comeback for New Year and still dare to tell us this is dedication. What year is itnow? Who talks about dedications?!" Zhang Ruiqiang gave Old Zhang a stare. Youhave authority and don't know how to make use of it. That is your own flesh andblood!

"Aunty Li, you might not know this. Notanyone can enter Tao Zi's unit, and he can achieve results faster there. In thefuture, he might even exceed the leader's position. If he is transferred, hisprospect might be affected." Feng Yu laughed.

"Really? Why don't you tell me earlier?Xiao Feng, have a seat and eat some fruits. I will prepare tea for you." AuntyLi grumbled and went to brew tea.

"Long hair, short-sighted." Zhang Ruiqianggrumbled under his breath.

Feng Yu controlled his laughter. If youdare, say it out loud!

After Aunty Li brings a cup of tea to FengYu, she went to her bedroom to watch TV, leaving them alone.

Feng Yu saw Aunty Li left, and his faceimmediately changed. He looked at Zhang Ruiqiang from the corner of his eyes."Leader, how come my father suddenly become a member of the Province's NationalPeople's Congress?"

"That's what he deserves. What's wrong? Youwant him to enter the National People's Congress? This is not impossible. The Provincewill put his name up this year."

"Hold it! You all might think this is anhonor, but my father got to work for you all. He got to attend meetings andstill have to report to work."

Feng Yu was not pleased. You all mightthink this is something good, but not everyone feels like you. You should atleast consult me first.

"Who says he needs to go to work? He canchoose not to report to the office or attend meetings. He only needs to attendthe annual general meeting once every year. Lots of people are begging for thisposition, and you are still unhappy?"

Feng Yu is satisfied with this answer andnodded. "That's more like it. Thank you."

"If you really want to thank me, help mesettle a small problem." Zhang Ruiqiang replied cunningly.

Feng Yu rolled his eyes. He knew this t.i.tleis not given to his father for free.

"Tell me. Which department needs money? Ineed to be clear with you first. I am going to continue my donations to rebuildthe dams, and I don't have too much money." Feng Yu had donated 500 million RMBlast year and will be giving another 500 million this year.

"Stop talking about money. It sounds toocrude. I want to ask you if you can take over our Province's home appliancesfactory, semi-conductor factory, etc."

Feng Yu put down the teacup immediately. "Ihad wished you a Happy New Year. I still have something on and need to go now."

"Eh… what's the hurry? Just lend us ahelping hand. If we don't settle our Province's state-owned enterprises afterthe New Year, we can only retrench the workers." Zhang Ruiqiang grabbed FengYu.

The Chinese government had given outorders. All the state-owned enterprises must adapt to the market economy, haveclear property rights, clear responsibilities, and scientific management, andmost importantly, there must be a clear line between the government and theenterprise.

Clear property rights and separating fromthe government is the hardest. In the past, the reforms had achieved goodresults by bringing in foreign investors and private funds. But because of theinterferences from the local governments, all these state-owned enterprisesstart to go downhill. Those that did not were all converted to privatecompanies.

It's still okay in Bing City. ZhangRuiqiang's reforms had achieved good results when he was there. But inLongjiang Province, outside of Bing City, this problem is severe.

Zhang Ruiqiang is now a leader in theProvince and cannot just look after Bing City alone.

"Just retrench those people. Bing City'senterprises are doing well, and furthermore, if the reformed state-ownedenterprises are going to be independent and self-sufficient, can't yououtsource those companies to someone else?"

In Feng Yu's previous life, manygovernments did this. Although this is not according to the regulations, it isthe transition period, and the local governments have no choice. At least,after they outsourced these enterprises, they will not end up bankrupt."

"You think the local governments did not dothis? The outsourcing works at first and made some profits. But the companydenied and refuse to pay the local government. They even threaten to return thestate-owned enterprise to the City Government and let the government pay theworkers' wages!" Zhang Ruiqiang replied angrily.

Feng Yu laughed. The leaders also havedifficulties, and the biggest irony is these leaders know nothing aboutmanaging a company! They don't even know how to hire a professional manager tomanage their enterprises. They are just too weak!

"It's simple. Just sell the enterprises tothem. They don't have money? Ask the banks to give them loans. They knowwhether if the enterprises can make money or not, and if no one really wants totake over the enterprise, just liquidate it and sell the land parcel. Justa.s.sign the workers to other factories, and those that you can't a.s.sign just letthem off." Feng Yu said.

"This is your solution? Sell the factoriesand land? What about the workers? Where are we going to find the money to paytheir retrenchment fees? What if they still come back to seek help from thegovernment?" Zhang Ruiqiang roared.

"The government can provide training tothose retrenched workers and help them get reemployment, or you all can alsoencourage them to start their own businesses. Even if they sell vegetables orset up a small eatery, they will not starve to death. As for their start-upcapital, the government can help. Also, those enterprises are really notprofitable. After these few years of reforms, most of them had started makingprofits. But because those enterprises had lots of debts, just the interestalone is a significant amount, and this will cause their losses to increase.The country has a policy that lets the creditors change their debts to shares?This way, enterprises will save a lot of interest."

"You think we haven't thought of this? Thecreditors don't want shares and only want money! The banks do agree to this,but they are too slow and will take at least 2 to 3 years."

"Ah… Just tell them that the enterprisesare going bankrupt and can't pay their debts. The creditors have two choices.They can get the shares and enjoy dividends, or sell the shares away, or waitand see how much the enterprise is worth after it's bankrupted." Feng Yureplied lazily. You all are the government, and you all can't deal with thosepeople?

"Can't you help us this time?" ZhangRuiqiang asked.

"Help? I had not helped you all? Last year,Bing City has a few bottling factories set up, right? I am the one who bringsin this investment. I am the one who helps those unemployed workers getreemployment. Tai Hua Trading, Tai Hua Supermarket Enterprise, had hired howmany workers and security? My brother-in-law's Wind and Rain Logistic had alsohired a lot of workers."

"Those are all in Bing City. What about theother cities? You are refusing to help them?"

"Our reforms of the state-owned enterprisesalso state that we should combine our resources to increase compet.i.tiveness.What's the point of merging those small companies? Even if I acquire some of these enterprises,I can only breakeven. It's meaningless. More importantly, those enterpriseshave to depend on themselves. The small alcohol factories can be merged withBeidacang Group to produce Beidacang Baijiu and sell them in the southernprovinces. You can also do the same for soft drinks, food products, etc. If Iacquire all of these enterprises, we might have to compete with Beidacang Groupin the future. You are sure you don't mind?" Feng Yu smiles and asked.

Zhang Ruiqiang sighed. He is afraid ofcompeting with Feng Yu. A province might be influential in China, but they arenothing compared to Feng Yu.

It seems like this time, the provincialgovernment will have to suffer!

Translator's note:

Market economy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_economy