Excellent little farmer

"Brother Huang, are you busy during this time?"

After lunch, it has always been a time for several people to communicate with each other alone or in groups. I knew that I also needed to explain some issues to Huang Wenhan. Huang Wenhan obviously saw some subtleties in the relationship between him and Liu Ruotong. How can you be newlywed while your partner is on an envoy abroad? There is no explanation other than that there is a problem with the relationship between the two.

My preemptive strike made Huang Wenhan's idea of ​​asking me alone what happened between Liu Ruotong and me come to nothing. He didn't want to make the atmosphere too tense. After all, I was about to turn thirty. , as Yang Zhenglin said, the other party is also a mature and rational man. He should have his own opinions and judgments on any issue. The opinions imposed on him by others may not be of much use.

"Well! I'm a little busy. It has something to do with what you mentioned. The two suggestions I made to the State Council have now been adopted. One is to strengthen all-round cooperation with Central Asian countries in energy. , encourage and expand investment in Central Asia, especially energy investment, both at the national and private levels, comprehensively deepen political and economic and trade ties with the five Central Asian countries, expand and deepen China's influence in Central Asia, and use The current political and economic vacuum in Central Asia requires expanding my country’s political and economic presence in Central Asia.”

When talking about his work, Huang Wenhan immediately became very interested and even temporarily put aside the questions he wanted to ask me.

"The other is to take advantage of the current downturn in international crude oil prices to further promote our country's state-owned energy companies to go global, strengthen foreign mergers and acquisitions, and acquire strategic assets. At the same time, we are planning to establish a national strategic crude oil reserve in our country."

There was a slight smile on my lips. The situation in China finally changed slightly under the wings of my butterfly.

In fact, I have been sparing no effort to do a job, which is to instill some advanced ideas that I have mastered. Although I am unable to change some facts, I can influence it in other ways, such as instilling the national energy strategy like Huang Wenhan The forward-looking policy and the rational use of foreign exchange reserves instilled in Ren Xiangdong have begun to have some effect.

Just when mainstream economists are congratulating themselves that it is the country's rich foreign exchange reserves that ensured that China helped Hong Kong withstand the Asian financial crisis, Ren Xiangdong did the opposite and frequently published articles reminding China that the continuous growth of foreign exchange reserves has the potential to It helps to strengthen the country's resistance to external financial storms, but it also needs to consider the rationality and balance of the foreign exchange reserve strategy. This seems a bit out of place amidst the hymns, but it has also attracted the attention of some knowledgeable people and the central government.

In many articles, Ren Xiangdong analyzed the current composition of China's foreign exchange reserves and future policies. At the same time, he also combined the threats that international, especially U.S. financial strategies may pose to China's foreign exchange reserves, and proposed diversification and strategic resource utilization. Suggestion, this article is said to have been submitted to the highest level through Financial Internal Reference, and has also caused considerable controversy.

However, one thing is certain, the possible impact of the continuous growth of foreign exchange reserves has attracted the attention of the central government, and the diversification and strategic resource utilization strategies proposed by Ren Xiangdong in response to changes in foreign exchange reserves have also gained some attention. With the support of economists, senior officials are also evaluating the feasibility and reliability of Ren Xiangdong’s views.

Huang Wenhan's proposal for national energy companies to go global to acquire strategic assets is in line with Ren Xiangdong's views. National top leaders have also responded positively to this, and Sinopec, PetroChina and CNOOC, which have completed strategic integration, have also begun to take steps towards The first step, especially now that the five-Shanghai cooperation mechanism has become increasingly mature, is even more extraordinary.

"Brother Huang, the downturn in oil prices will not last long. Due to my country's rapid economic growth, especially the expansion of the scale of the manufacturing industry, and the continuous improvement of people's living standards, the demand for energy, especially oil and natural gas, will also increase. With a substantial increase, my country's oil and gas imports will increase at a very high rate. If we make arrangements early, we will definitely be restricted by others in the future."

I took a deep breath and knew that Huang Wenhan was now highly appreciated by Prime Minister Hong. Many of his opinions could be heard directly in heaven. If Huang Wenhan could be persuaded to accept his opinions, it might help the country in this regard in the future. Avoid many detours.

“Now is the best time to go out and acquire some high-quality assets, especially when the five Central Asian countries and Russia are currently facing severe economic crises. If our country increases investment in these countries, including energy and infrastructure, it will also Government loans can be provided to the five Central Asian countries from a strategic level, which will greatly help my country expand its influence in Central Asia. This is a golden opportunity."

Huang Wenhan nodded slightly and said: "I also know that this is a rare opportunity. I have participated in both ministerial meetings of the Shanghai Five-nation Mechanism. Energy cooperation is the top priority. Russia's current strength is declining sharply. On the other hand, we are no longer able to intervene in Central Asia. I am actively promoting China National Petroleum Corporation and Sinopec to invest in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. However, the scale has not been determined yet and is expected to become clear after the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is formally established this year."

"The Shanghai Cooperation Organization will be formally established this year?" I was surprised and asked: "Turkmenistan will also join?"

In my estimation, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization will be a year or two later, and Turkmenistan has not joined the cooperation organization because it is a neutral country. Can it be said that its promotion from all aspects can really change history?

"I see this trend. Since last year, our cooperation with the five Central Asian countries has reached a relatively good level. Several projects in Kazakhstan are progressing smoothly, and there are also two projects in Uzbekistan that are in full swing. , and are also interacting and communicating with Russia. However, so far, our cooperation with Central Asia has mainly focused on energy projects. Prime Minister Hong is not very satisfied with the current situation. He hopes that more domestic companies can Go out to Central Asian countries, and especially encourage private enterprises to boldly go out to engage in economy, trade and investment."

Huang Wenhan is quite proud. Promoting the entry of Sinopec and PetroChina into Central Asia is his proudest achievement after taking office as Minister of Energy. Especially entering the fields of oil and gas exploration and collection in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan has attracted the attention of some Western multinational companies. panic, and the Shanghai-Sea Five mechanism has benefited from the increasingly close cooperation in the energy field, and the close cooperation in the energy field has in turn promoted the interaction of the five Shanghai-Sea Countries at the political level, making the Shanghai-Sea System, which had always stayed in the superficial field, The five-country cooperation mechanism has finally made substantial progress.

"Turkmenistan has no intention of joining this mechanism. It is a permanently neutral country and is unlikely to break through this limit. However, the other four Central Asian countries are very interested, and we have also vigorously advocated and clearly proposed the idea of ​​rebuilding the Silk Road. This is also It has won the unanimous approval of all Central Asian countries." Huang Wenhan added.

"What about Russia?" I asked curiously.

"Russia's attitude seems to be somewhat vague and contradictory, and its signals are also ambiguous, but this will not affect the overall situation."

Huang Wenhan said with a smile: "This is understandable. On the one hand, Russia also hopes to strengthen economic and trade cooperation between our country and them, but they are worried about our vigorous development of cooperation with the five Central Asian countries and the penetration of our influence. When it arrived in Central Asia, it took away their backyard, which is also closely related to Russia’s current domestic economic downturn.”

"If China wants to rise, it must seize this opportunity and expand its influence to Central Asia, the heart of Eurasia, which is also one of the largest energy treasure houses in the future. Especially this land energy supply line can To a large extent, we will avoid the easy-to-control choke points of our maritime energy supply channels, such as the Strait of Malacca, to ensure our country’s energy security.”

I strengthened my tone and said: "As our country's economic strength continues to increase, it will definitely attract the hostility of some forces, especially the United States. They will definitely suppress us at all levels and use their financial strength, military strength and geographical location advantages. We are doing everything possible to curb our development, and energy security will be the most important aspect. We must be fully mentally prepared and strategically forward-looking, and we must be prepared for a rainy day. This is the responsibility we shoulder!"

Huang Wenhan seemed to feel the strong sense of crisis in my words and nodded silently.

My strategic foresight is indeed extraordinary. Sometimes he also wonders how the other party at such a young age can think about these things so far and so deeply.

For example, on the issue of the close connection between the Shanghai-Sea Cooperation Mechanism and energy cooperation, as early as more than two years ago, when he was still serving as deputy director of the State Economic and Trade Commission, the other party mentioned this issue to him quite accurately and solemnly. Facts have proved that all my judgments and speculations were accurate.