Siheyuan, Me and the Yu Sisters

"The plan studied by the organization is to use Tianjin, Liancheng and Qingcheng as the northern economic cooperation zone, and Shanghai, Suzhou and Yangcheng as the southern foreign economic cooperation zone."

"Adhere to the state-owned economy as the core, establish cooperation projects between China and the West, and develop the economy"

"At the same time, we will focus on foreign trade according to the annual domestic procurement plan and export plan."

Zhao Dingcheng said with a smile

"This is a preliminary plan that was proposed after many discussions within the organization."

"The construction plan for the Guangdong Automobile Industrial Base that you submitted earlier was also fully discussed at this meeting, and most comrades currently agree with it."

"However, a small number of comrades questioned why the automobile industry was not developed in the more basic industrial base in the north."

Zhang Renkang nodded and explained with a smile:

"First, Guangdong Province is closer to Hong Kong Island. I intend to use Guangdong Province's industrial base as an inducement to attract capital from Hong Kong Island. In this way, they will invest a large amount of capital in Guangdong Province, and most of their lives and property will be entrusted to us. I am not afraid that the situation in Hong Kong Island will get out of control in the future."

"Secondly, Guangdong Province has a suitable location and human resources, which greatly reduces our production costs. Currently, the majority of our automobile sales are to Hong Kong, Southeast Asian countries, and even the Euro and Western markets that will be opened in the future. Guangdong Province's location is naturally advantageous."

"Third, it is precisely because the North already has a mature and stable industrial system that we have to consider the issue of balance between the North and the South. As the old saying goes, don't put all your eggs in one basket."

"The most important thing is that Guangdong Province is more in line with Hong Kong Island in terms of ideology and cultural customs than the north. For a long time to come, Hong Kong Island will remain our core source of foreign trade and capital investment."

Another reason Zhang Renkang did not explain is that Guangdong Province is far away from the old city, and many turmoil will be difficult to affect it for a while.

In the next two or three years, he predicted that due to different political views and games, the social and political situation in Sijiu City and even the entire North would not be very stable.

For a new industrial base, especially one that is built mainly with external funds, the most important thing is stability. Otherwise, frequent policy changes and personnel interference will affect investors' confidence and concerns about security.

If China wants to use external funds to build a model, it must not change its mind overnight and make investors feel uneasy.

Zhao Dingcheng nodded, smiled and said

“You’ve thought it through very thoroughly.”

"I have submitted the plan you gave me and the plan to strengthen internal management to my superiors."

"The leader also praised you for being sensible, having a sense of crisis, and being a good comrade."

Zhang Renkang smiled and didn't give much response. He just asked

"Secretary Zhao, what are the considerations for the North-South Sino-Foreign Economic Cooperation Zone that is planned to be established in China?"

“Is there any relevant policy document?”

Zhao Dingcheng smiled and shook his head and said

"The specific documents are confidential. So far, only a dozen comrades have discussed it several times. There are huge differences in opinions and ideas, and no consensus has been reached."

"However, the chief did say that if you want to know, I can show it to you and ask for your opinion."

Zhao Dingcheng took out a file bag from the drawer, with the word "confidential" written in red on it.

Smiled and said

"You can look at it here, but you can't take it out."

"This is a plan that everyone agrees on, and we are now discussing its feasibility."

Zhang Renkang nodded. These documents are now the core opinions of national policy. Before they are announced, only a few people know about them.

It said that they intended to establish several economic cooperation zones in the north and south, and agreed to foreign investment in establishing enterprises and factories in China, but the enterprises established must be dominated by China. China would provide land resources and human resources, while foreign investment would provide funds and technology. The proportion of China in the cooperation between the two sides should not be less than 60%.

Each economic cooperation zone should be led by the central government, with state-owned units as partners, private access to external funds prohibited, and all forms of private cooperation plans opposed

……

The cooperative enterprises to be established should not design military, road, mining, or other important national defense and security projects... They should not introduce external funds outside the specified cooperative economic zone...

……

Zhang Renkang read the plan with a bit of a smile on his face.

I don't know who is so cautious.

Rather than calling this a cooperation plan, it is better to call it a plan to prevent external forces from sabotaging and subverting the country.

There are dozens of clauses, each of which is subject to various restrictions.

Even production workers are not allowed to contact outsiders. Compared with the cooperative economic and trade zone between North and South Korea, the restrictions on angles and depth are even more severe.

Zhang Renkang said with a wry smile

"Secretary Zhao, isn't this plan too restrictive?"

"We must remain vigilant and cautious about the entry of external capital. After all, in addition to those who want to cooperate with us economically, there must be various malicious elements who try to collect domestic information and intelligence and try to influence and undermine the internal stability of our country."

"However, we must divide and rule. We welcome those who want to do business, and we will resolutely crack down on those with ulterior motives."

"My opinion is that since we welcome external funds to invest in the mainland, there is no need to set so many restrictions."

"We will start in three steps. The first step is to select three regions in the north and south to establish economic cooperation zones. This will serve as a bridge for us to explore foreign cooperation. Once we have found a set of effective solutions, we will gradually expand the scope of cooperation."

"Secondly, as for the depth of cooperation, we can go in the direction of light industry from the perspective of improving people's living standards. We can establish cooperative enterprises in agriculture, animal husbandry, textiles, and detergents. We can account for half of the shares. We can even gradually reduce our share to less than 30% after the cooperation is established based on the development situation. That's fine."

"After completing the initial cooperation, we will gradually develop cooperation in machinery, minerals, chemicals, steel, automobiles and other fields. However, the only thing we insist on is the basics such as electricity, roads, water supply, and food, which are related to people's livelihood and the necessities of people's lives. We will not waver in our focus on domestic development."

"This is the basis for us to maintain the lives of our people and the stability of our country. We will not allow any external funds to enter."

"Finally, a cooperative economic zone will be formed with participation from several state-owned enterprises and external funds from the north, south and east to west, which will comprehensively promote domestic economic development, improve people's living standards and achieve rapid growth in national strength."

The proposal proposed by Zhang Renkang is part of the reform ideas of later generations, with some adjustments made according to the current political situation. The most important thing is to fully adhere to the bottom line of state-led, state-owned enterprise participation, and strictly prohibit private entry.

After all, the present is different from the later times, and the political situation is also different from the time when we went through several rounds of reflection and debate, established the stage of seeking truth from facts and emancipating our minds.

Moreover, even foreign forces are currently in a cautious and tentative stage in all aspects of the country. If they were to copy the experience of later generations, not only would they not have the social environment, but they would also be more likely to be confronted by the higher authorities about their position.

However, at the current stage, limited foreign cooperation is the only suitable approach for China.

Take one step at a time and eat one bite at a time

In recent years, the Americans have not shed enough blood in the southern rain forests, and the country's foreign intervention still has some vitality.

Moreover, the Northern Grand Steward has not yet set his sights on the graveyard of the empire. The King of the Order is currently busy rectifying the internal affairs and strengthening his control over the Eastern European countries.

The situation in Europe is not easy at this time. Even if China is interested, Europe cannot spare too much energy to cooperate too deeply with China.