Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 763 Chunmei
"Look, this is Nantou. It juts out into the sea and can also be called Nantou Peninsula. See? Across the sea are Yuen Long and Lau Fau Shan in Hong Kong's New Territories. Once the pier is built, it will be only 20 nautical miles from here by sea to Central Hong Kong, 24 nautical miles from Macau, and 80 nautical miles from Guangzhou. It will be convenient to go anywhere."

Chen Fan glanced at Liao Guangzhi, who was giving them the introduction, and his lips twitched slightly. This little place dares to call itself a peninsula?

However, he certainly wouldn't undermine them, but instead asked with great interest, "This place is uneven, how do you plan to develop it?"

As he spoke, he turned to look at Wang Jianguo and Li Nan who were following behind him.

When they saw his gaze, they couldn't help but look away.

If Chen Fan hadn't patiently beaten them into submission, they might have swum to the other side the night before last, carrying the bamboo swimming rings that Cai Guoqiang had sponsored for free.

The storms had been relentless for the past two nights, and if they actually rushed into the waves, who knows if they would make it back to shore alive.

Looking back now, I naturally feel very embarrassed.

Liao Guangzhi, who was standing at the front, did not notice their little tricks. When he heard Chen Fan's question, he immediately laughed and said, "Of course we can't use it directly. 'Five connections and one leveling' are the basic conditions. We need to ensure that water, electricity, roads, navigation, and telecommunications are connected, and that the land is leveled, while simultaneously building ports and industrial zones."

This project is being led by China Merchants Group. They have already developed a comprehensive plan, and the first thing they'll do when they break ground on July 8th is to blow it up!

As he spoke, he stomped on the small hill beneath his feet. Judging from his posture, he wished he could flatten Shekou with one foot and save himself the trouble of leveling the land.

Chen Fan looked at the rugged land and nodded in agreement, "It's going to be bombed."

He paused for a moment, then said, "I have a suggestion."

Liao Guangzhi immediately pulled out a notebook and pen, adopting the posture of listening attentively to a leader's speech, which made Zhou Yali, who was short-sighted and had long hair, unable to help but slightly open her mouth.

Jiang Tiantian immediately tugged at her clothes, and she snapped out of her daze, turning around to talk to the two sisters as if nothing had happened.

Chen Fan then turned to Liao Guangzhi and said seriously, "I heard that the higher-ups are discussing the possibility of establishing an export special zone. If, and I mean if, it is decided that this place will be designated as a special zone, the first thing you should do is blow up Luoshan."

Liao Guangzhi was slightly taken aback, "Blast Luoshan?"

Luoshan is not the same as the small hill at our feet. The small hill is called a mountain, but it is actually just a big mound of earth a dozen meters high. Luoshan, on the other hand, is a mountain located in Luohu Village, Shenzhen Town.

Although it cannot compare to the towering mountains of the north, it is still one of the main high mountains in Bao'an County, with a volume of earthwork reaching nearly one million cubic meters. Blowing up Luohu Mountain would be a huge project.

Chen Fan looked at him and continued, "Ah Zhi, you've seen the situation in Shenzhen these past two days. Whenever it rains heavily, Luohu is flooded by more than half. People who know it are familiar with Luohu, but those who don't might think it's 'Luohu' (meaning 'falling into a lake'). I don't believe that none of the businessmen from Hong Kong have mentioned this situation."

The Luohu of today is completely different from the Luohu of his memory. A hill stands there, with uneven terrain, unlike the flat land that it was later known as.

Fortunately, it rained heavily at night these past two days, so it didn't affect daytime travel. Otherwise, I guess I would have had to use a boat to get around.

(Villagers in Luohu fishing on the shore)

Seeing the slightly embarrassed look on Liao Guangzhi's face, Chen Fan smiled and said, "Am I right?"

Liao Guangzhi scratched the back of his head. "It's a minority of people who have reacted."

Chen Fan's smile faded, and he said seriously, "A few people only think about travel, but if we want to carry out construction and build an export special zone, it's almost unthinkable that the most suitable place is near Shenzhen Railway Station. There is a railway directly connecting to Hong Kong, as well as a land border crossing for freight. It is also not far from the Wenjindu Port and Shekou, making it very convenient."

However, given the current terrain of Shenzhen and Luohu, it is simply not suitable for building large-scale factories. Furthermore, with rampant rainfall, the special economic zone cannot be established unless the flooding problem is solved.

In fact, when Mr. Jiang came to Shenzhen for inspection, he waded through waist-deep water. His first words were, "If the flood problem in Shenzhen is not solved, the special economic zone cannot be built."

Then came the massive bombing of Luoshan Mountain and filling of Luohu Lake.

The entire Luoshan Mountain was excavated, turning it into nearly one million cubic meters of earth, which was then used to fill in the depressions in Luohu. The deepest parts were filled to a depth of more than four meters, raising the average elevation of Luohu by 1.07 meters, which led to the later large-scale development of Luohu.

Anyway, quite a few people know that the higher-ups are discussing establishing a special economic zone, and even Zhou Zhengdong has offered his opinion. Chen Fan isn't afraid to openly give suggestions to the local area.

If they are willing to adopt this approach, it could save them almost a year.

Even if the solution isn't adopted immediately, it can reduce the design phase and allow for a solution to be developed in advance when needed.

He continued, “Throughout history, flood control has always involved two methods: dredging and blocking. Luohu is not near the sea and only the Shenzhen River can drain water, but the flood discharge capacity is far from sufficient. Therefore, the best approach is to use both methods in parallel.”

While using earthworks from Luoshan to raise the terrain of Luohu, underground drainage ditches were dug to solve the flooding problem through various means.

Liao Guangzhi kept writing with his pen, and kept making "uh-huh" sounds.

After he finished writing, he looked up and asked, "Anything else?"

Chen Fan's lips twitched slightly as he turned to look at the others. "And when are your leaders coming?"

Liao Guangzhi patted his head, quickly put away his notebook and pen, turned around and pointed to two cars driving over in the distance, "They're here."

There's no need to go over to greet them. This is the highest point in Shekou, so it's the most convenient place to have a conversation.

Before long, six men who looked like officials arrived.

They first got to know each other through Liao Guangzhi's introduction. Well, mainly Chen Fan knew them, but they were quite familiar with Chen Fan and Zhou Yali, and even knew Jiang Lili and Jiang Tiantian. Obviously, they had done their homework beforehand.

The way things are done here is also very different from that in mainland China.

Without much beating around the bush, after a brief exchange of pleasantries, the highest-ranking leader began to introduce the development and planning of Shekou: "Construction will officially begin in two days. First, the port area will be developed, and then the industrial plants will be built. The entire Shekou Industrial Zone covers an area of ​​2.14 square kilometers and will implement a development policy focused on industry and product exports."

In other words, the industrial zone will mainly focus on production and transportation. We will build factories in the production area, and you can move in directly when you invest here. We will also take care of other infrastructure such as water, electricity, and communications.

The products produced here can be loaded onto ships and transported to the Central Wharf in Hong Kong, and then shipped to all parts of the world via international cargo ships.

This is how our Shekou Industrial Zone currently operates.

Chen Fan turned to look at Zhou Yali, only to find that the young lady was giving him a slight smile, the meaning of which couldn't be clearer.

"You've got the decision, bro!" Chen Fan clicked his tongue, silently wiped his sweat, and smiled at his boss, "I have three questions."

The leader immediately raised his hand and said, "Please speak."

Chen Fan: "First of all, what policies and benefits are available for factories to set up operations here?"

The leader immediately said, "The first is the tax reduction and exemption policy. Any company that settles in the Shekou Industrial Zone can enjoy corporate income tax reduction and exemption, and preferential tariffs on imported equipment,..."

Before he could finish speaking, Chen Fan raised his hand to interrupt him, "Wait, you're talking about tariff preferences for imported equipment, not tariff reductions or exemptions?"

The leader chuckled and said, "If possible, ah, I mean if possible, you can also purchase equipment produced in our mainland. In the field of industrial equipment, although our heavy industrial equipment still needs improvement, in terms of light industrial equipment, mainland companies are quite competitive."

For example, the Yunhu Machinery Factory in your hometown, Mr. Chen, produced egg incubators and industrial sewing machines that shone brightly at the Spring Canton Fair, which just ended two months ago, generating over 100,000 US dollars in foreign exchange earnings. And then there's the Yunhu Automobile Factory…”

Chen Fan's ears twitched as he listened, and he couldn't help but admire this leader's negotiation skills. He had designed all of this equipment himself, so if there was a real need, wouldn't he be human if he didn't consider his own unit's needs?!

Chen Fan waved his hand slightly and said seriously, "I'm talking about the main production equipment, such as the equipment for manufacturing Chinese character cards, and equipment for electronic products. In these areas, my country still lags behind foreign countries. And since our products are mainly for export, the quality requirements are very high. If we can't use the most advanced equipment, then..."

The leader immediately nodded, "Understood. In that case, for equipment that is significantly different from that in the mainland, we can offer the maximum possible reduction or exemption in import tariffs."

Chen Fan asked directly, "How much is the reduction?"

The leader gritted his teeth, thought for a moment, and said, "In principle, all of them can be exempted, but we need to apply to the province."

Chen Fan smiled and said, "Then we'll wait for your good news."

The leader chuckled and continued, "The second advantage is our low-cost land, factory, and labor support. Setting up a factory here costs only one-tenth of the rent in Hong Kong, or even less. As for workers, we can also help you. We will supply as many workers as you need, so you won't have to recruit them yourself like you did in Hong Kong."

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan couldn't help but glance at Zhou Yali.

His words were clearly targeted, indicating that Zhou Zhengdong and his team's recruitment activities in Hong Kong before the Lunar New Year had also been discovered by them.

Or rather, it all happened right under their noses.

But I must say, this is indeed a very good condition.

Anyway, the substandard ones can be returned and they can be asked to replace them in time. There is no problem with not having suitable workers.

The first batch of migrant workers in Shenzhen's history were recruited from Shaoguan, Shaoyang, Qingyuan and other places. Since the first factory was Keda Toy Factory and the workers were mostly women, they were called "Keda Girls" by the earliest people to come to Shenzhen.

Chen Fan suddenly wondered if Wanmuchun Technology Company was the first to move in, would it be called "Chunmei"?
Hmm... that doesn't sound good.

Seeing that Chen Fan did not speak, the leader continued, "The last point is that the products you produce in the industrial zone can be exported directly without being subject to my country's foreign trade regulations, and the foreign exchange earnings can be disposed of by your company."

Chen Fan nodded slowly. This treatment seemed good, as it broke through the restrictions of the import and export company's jurisdictional privileges, but in reality, it was just so-so.

What is this place? Shekou Industrial Zone!
This place is originally a special area for export products. If you set up a factory here, you still need an import and export company to handle it. What is the point of setting up an export industrial zone?

Therefore, even if the conditions are good, one should still be content with one's lot and it's not worth mentioning.

He didn't comment on these preferential policies, but instead asked, "The second question is, can we buy land and build our own factory within the industrial zone?"

Upon hearing this, the leader was startled and quickly said, "All land belongs to the state. This is a bottom line principle that cannot be crossed!"

After he finished speaking, he glanced at Zhou Yali discreetly, thinking to himself, "They say the younger generation surpasses the older, and this girl is indeed ruthless, much more capable than her father. Her father was just asking if they could buy a factory building, but she actually wanted to buy the land directly."

In fact, Zhou Yali was also taken aback, never expecting Chen Fan to make such a request.

She had heard her father mention before that land was the foundation of the country and unlikely to be traded. At most, they would try to get their hands on the factory's ownership. She never expected her younger brother to be even more ruthless than their father, actually wanting to buy the land directly!

Seeing that his superior was somewhat flustered, Chen Fan laughed and quickly said, "When I said I was buying land, I didn't mean buying the property rights, but the right to use it."

The leader paused for a moment, then asked, puzzled, "Is there a difference?"

Chen Fan laughed and said, "There's a big difference. As you said, the property rights belong to the state, so how can they be bought and sold? But the right to use can be traded."

He turned and pointed to Hong Kong across the street, saying, “Like Hong Kong, according to British and Hong Kong law, the land in the British Empire and its occupied territories belongs to the Queen. The only thing that can be traded is the right to use it. As early as the beginning of their occupation, the then Governor sold the land use rights of some land on Hong Kong Island to British merchants for periods ranging from 30 to 200 years.”

Once the land use right expires, it can be renewed by paying a small handling fee, or the government can reclaim it at a reasonable market price; this does not affect the essential ownership of the land.

The leader was very puzzled, "Is that so?"

He knew that land in Hong Kong was very valuable, but he didn't expect that it wasn't ownership, but only usage rights. So Hong Kong's booming real estate industry was just a castle in the air.

That's not right either. Hong Kong will be taken back sooner or later, so the land still belongs to the country and they shouldn't be confused.

Wait, now is not the time to think about these things.

After thinking for a while, the leader shook his head and said, "We cannot agree to this condition; there is no such policy."

"That's it."

Chen Fan pondered for two seconds. He couldn't recall where the theoretical basis for Shenzhen's land auctions came from, but it must have been there. Otherwise, even with policy support from higher authorities, the people below would never have dared to easily set their sights on land if they couldn't find a theoretical basis.

Since I can't remember, there's nothing I can do.

Anyway, he didn't really expect to be able to buy the land; it was just a negotiation tactic of aiming high and getting a middle ground, or aiming for the middle ground and getting a lower ground.

He then asked, "Since we can't buy the land use rights, can we buy the ownership of the factory buildings? Or, would it be feasible for the industrial park to designate a location for us to build the factory buildings ourselves and obtain the right to use them for a certain number of years?"

(End of this chapter)