Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

"I believe we should have a dedicated agency to manage these companies established with government funds, as well as the government's stakes. These assets belong to the country and the people, and must be protected. They shouldn't be lost due to negligent management. We must not only ensure the safety of these state and people's assets, but also ensure their continued growth. To do this, we must establish a dedicated department to manage these assets."

"Compared to decentralized management, centralized management is indeed a more appropriate approach. Decentralized management can easily lead to management chaos and regulatory chaos."

Finance Minister Rong Zihe supports Zhou Bin.

Zhou Bin himself was very calm about being able to enter the Politburo this time.

But Zhou Bin's line, like the cadres in the finance department, financial department, and foreign trade department, were all very happy.

After all, the heads of the finance, financial and foreign trade departments are not included in the Politburo, as if their areas are not valued by the central government.

Although many cadres have been transferred to the current central government's finance, banking, and foreign trade departments, the foundation remains the former Jin-Cha-Ji finance, banking, and foreign trade departments, which were integrated by Zhou Bin, who arrived in Jin-Cha-Ji after the Seventh National Congress. Therefore, Zhou Bin's prestige in these departments is very high.

This time Zhou Bin entered the Politburo, and the cadres of these departments were very encouraged.

"I also think there should be a dedicated department to centrally manage it."

Ye Jizhuang, the first Minister of Foreign Trade and later a member of the Finance and Economics Working Committee, retired after ten years due to age. Cao Juru, the first Governor of the People's Bank of China, replaced Ye Jizhuang as a member of the Finance and Economics Working Committee and also became Zhou Bin's deputy.

“I think this needs to be done with caution.”

After Bo Shuchun became the second secretary of the Science Working Committee, Zhang Jinfu took over Bo Shuchun's position as director of the State Science and Technology Commission. However, although Zhang Jinfu was both deputy director of the Science Working Committee and director of the State Science and Technology Commission, he was also a member of the Finance and Economics Working Committee.

Zhang Jinfu said, "Let me talk about the Ministry of Electronics Industry, which was established only a few years ago by the State Council. To develop my country's electronics industry, the Ministry established the China Electronics Corporation. Many people are familiar with this company, which produces televisions, computers, radios, and other products developed by the semiconductor industry. It holds a high strategic position within the Ministry of Electronics Industry. The Ministry aims to use China Electronics Corporation's products to expand into the consumer electronics market and simultaneously drive the development of China's semiconductor industry. This is a comprehensive strategy."

"During this development process, the strategic importance of CEC to the Ministry of Electronics Industry is unquestionable. If CEC were separated from the Ministry of Electronics Industry, the Ministry's plan to advance China's electronics industry with CEC at the forefront would be artificially hindered."

There are special departments to manage some state assets.

Zhang Jinfu didn't object, but he said it couldn't be pushed forward blindly.

Some large enterprises have deep ties to their respective departments. The development strategies of these large companies and ministries are closely intertwined. Managing such enterprises would directly impact the implementation of many of the ministries' strategic plans.

"Comrade Zhang Jinfu is right."

Wang Heshou, Minister of Metallurgical Industry, nodded.

The Ministry of Metallurgical Industry is currently under the greatest pressure, as the steel industry falls under its purview. If a dedicated department were to oversee the steel industry, how would the Ministry of Metallurgical Industry's many plans be carried out?

Of course, Wang Heshou is not without any selfish motives.

One of the main reasons the Ministry of Metallurgical Industry has become one of the most important ministries in the State Council is that it controls so many powerful steel mills. If you stripped them of their management power, the Ministry of Metallurgical Industry would not have the power it has today.

I have the same thoughts as Wang Heshou.

Over the past decade or so, various ministries and commissions have fostered a number of powerful factories. This is the result of their hard work, and many of the factories were even invested in by these ministries and commissions.

How could they be happy if you want to take away the management rights of these factories with just one sentence?

After hearing everyone’s speeches, Chen Yun basically understood the situation.

Zhou Bin's supporters included officials from the finance, banking, and foreign trade systems. They all supported him and hoped the government would appoint a professional department to manage the assets.

But the leaders of most central ministries and commissions were opposed.

So Chen Yun looked at Deng Xixian and said, "Comrade Deng Xixian, what do you think?"

"Everyone has a point."

Deng Xixian said, "It's true that local asset management is in disarray. The central government must come up with a solution to this problem. However, the concerns of the various ministries are also justified. During the Third Five-Year Plan, each ministry had its own tasks, and they were very heavy. Furthermore, to complete the national plan, they needed the cooperation of the factories below them."

"So my suggestion is that such a specialized agency should still be established. But they should not directly manage these key enterprises of various ministries and commissions, but first manage the shares in which the government has invested. The security of these shares must be guaranteed first, and the property of the state and the people must not be harmed."

Given that most of the ministries under the Finance and Economics Working Committee have expressed opposition, Deng Xixian won't proceed blindly. However, managing these scattered assets is imperative. This isn't just the case at the local level; government agencies also own shares in many companies without participating in their management.

These shares will of course need to be managed.

However, the main task of the central government ministries and commissions is to complete the Third Five-Year Plan. These ministries and commissions were established to support China's industrialization, not to manage assets such as shares.

After Chen Yun finished questioning Deng Xixian, he turned to Wei Hongjun and asked, "Comrade Wei Hongjun, what do you think?"

"I agree with Comrade Deng Xixian's idea. Asset management is becoming increasingly important, but we don't have much experience in this area. Furthermore, there's a lot to do in the Third Five-Year Plan, so for now, we shouldn't make large-scale management adjustments to the enterprises under various ministries and commissions."

Smashing the old order and establishing a new one is easy to say, but very difficult to do. It's not impossible for Wei Hongjun to force these central government ministries and commissions to hand over management rights to the enterprises under their control, but that would be of little benefit.

Now we are launching a department that can manage assets,

But no one has experience. If we hastily set up a new department and then hand over the management rights of those state-owned enterprises to this department, it will easily lead to management chaos. The Three-Five Plan is very important. Once it is successfully completed,

By then, China can truly begin to become an industrialized country. Therefore, the Third Five-Year Plan must not be messed up.

We should first formalize the asset management department. Once it becomes more formalized and professional, and has gained experience, we can gradually transfer the management rights of the enterprises under the ministries to the new department.

"But the situation at the local and central levels is different. A province may need some key enterprises to support the implementation of its economic plan. But the situation in the lower-level prefectures may be different. So my suggestion is that the central government,

Policies can be different between provinces and regions.”

Chen Yun nodded.

"I fully agree with the opinions of Comrade Wei Hongjun and Comrade Deng Xixian. Comrade Zhou Bin, what do you think?"

"It's okay to be more steady."

Zhou Bin nodded.

Zhou Bin backed off, and the leaders of other ministries and commissions couldn't hold on to the issue. So, after discussion at the meeting, they decided to establish a "State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission," or SASAC. However, this required Politburo approval, and the State Council submitted a proposal to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

This is a new department.

Deciding who will take the helm is a very complex matter. More importantly, everyone can see that once the SASAC gets its work underway, its future development will be limitless.

So many people came up with their own lists of candidates.

Looking at the list of candidates, Chen Yun asked, "Comrade Wei Hongjun, what is your opinion?"

"This is a new department, and we're all outsiders when it comes to asset management. My advice is to find a well-educated executive. He needs both education and experience in industry and commerce. We also have significant overseas assets, many of which are trading companies. To manage these assets, it would be best if someone also understands foreign trade."

Everyone listened to Wei Hongjun's words and immediately fell silent.

As the CCP grew, a large number of intellectuals joined. However, the cadre who could serve as Secretary of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) must be of a high rank. Among such cadres, those with education and experience in industry, commerce, and foreign trade are rarer than pandas. Of the candidates just recommended, only one meets these criteria.

But you can't say that Wei Hongjun is wrong.

This involves asset management, so this official must have knowledge of the subject and experience in industry and commerce. Furthermore, the amount of overseas assets currently managed by the state is enormous.

The most typical example is China Resources Company in Hong Kong.

When the People's Republic of China was founded in 1948, China Resources was already a company with substantial assets. After more than a decade of development, with the support of the Chinese government, China Resources has become a major conglomerate with extensive presence in Hong Kong. Annually, it facilitates over $ billion in imports and exports alone, even boasting its own bank to assist in raising capital. With the rapid development of China's foreign trade, China's overseas trading companies have experienced rapid growth. These assets must be brought under management. Therefore, it is reasonable for this cadre to have some experience in foreign trade.

This person is Zhou Huamin, the current Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade proposed by Zhou Bin.

Zhou Huamin has a very impressive resume and of course his abilities are also very outstanding. Zhou Huamin is a true high-level intellectual.

He attended the Law and Commerce College of National Peking University from 1934 to 1937 and was fluent in English and Japanese. Due to the outbreak of the July Incident, he interrupted his studies and joined the Eighth Route Army, developing industry, commerce and trade in central Hebei.

Because of his excellent performance in Jizhong, Zhou Bin later transferred Zhou Huamin to his side when he integrated the industry, commerce and trade of Jinchaji to help him rectify the industry and commerce system of Jinchaji. After the establishment of the North China People's Government, Zhou Huamin served as the Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, China lacked a lot of things. In order to develop steel and iron with the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries,

The China Hardware and Electrical Import Company was established to import and export non-ferrous metal rolled products, electrical and telecommunications equipment, and other commodities. Later, as China's business in the socialist bloc rapidly expanded, the company was renamed the China Hardware Import Company. This was actually one of the predecessors of the later famous Minmetals.

Zhou Huamin was responsible for establishing the China Hardware and Electrical Import Company and served as its first general manager. In 1955, the company merged with the China Minerals Company to become the China Hardware and Minerals Import and Export Company, with Zhou Huamin serving as its first Party Secretary and General Manager.

Currently, China Minmetals Corporation is solely responsible for China's international trade in steel, nonferrous metals, and electrical and telecommunications equipment. Because of his outstanding performance at Minmetals Corporation and Zhou Bin's admiration for Zhou Huamin, he was transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Trade as Vice Minister after the Ninth National Congress.

When the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission was established this time, Zhou Bin recommended 48-year-old Zhou Huamin.

Wei Hongjun also admires Zhou Huamin.

Therefore, he also supported Zhou Bin's opinion. However, Wei Hongjun couldn't say it directly, so he let Zhou Huamin do it. After hearing Wei Hongjun's words, Chen Yun nodded and said, "That makes sense. I think Comrade Zhou Huamin, Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade, is a very suitable person."

Of course, the Finance and Economics Working Committee does not have the power to make personnel arrangements.

Especially since the head of a department like the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) is of such high rank that the final decision still needs to be made by the Secretariat after review. However, this time, the Finance and Economics Committee meeting included three members of the Politburo Standing Committee, representing one-third of the Politburo membership. Therefore, once the Finance and Economics Committee has made a decision, neither the Secretariat nor the Politburo can normally block the appointment.

After the discussion on the SASAC issue ended, Minister of Foreign Trade Lei Renmin spoke.

"After the founding of the People's Republic of China, many foreign trade companies were established in order to develop foreign trade. However, we had no experience at that time, so many foreign trade companies were established.

The foreign trade goods are divided into different categories, and a foreign trade company is established in each category to handle import and export business. However, with the expansion of my country's foreign trade scale, this method of dividing foreign trade companies into different categories is no longer suitable for my country's foreign trade.

Therefore, our Ministry of Foreign Trade suggests merging some foreign trade companies in similar fields to make them bigger and stronger.

1139 Reorganization of foreign trade system

"Comrade Lei Renmin, could you please be more specific?"

In preparation for the Ten Major National Congresses, many issues were delayed and not addressed immediately. Now that the Ten Major National Congresses are over, a large number of issues have accumulated in various departments and need to be addressed as soon as possible.

So when the Finance and Economics Working Committee held a meeting this time, each department put forward many proposals.

Lei Renmin said, "Let me briefly describe the situation in the early days of liberation. my country had just been liberated, and with the devastation of war, we needed to import a large amount of supplies. To stabilize imports and meet domestic needs, the central government established a large number of import companies. Once the national situation stabilized, we needed to export goods to earn foreign exchange, so a large number of export companies were established. Later, with the rapid development of my country's trade, these import and export companies also experienced significant growth. However, because the current import and export situation is completely different from that of ten years ago, it's time for these import and export companies to adjust."

"The most typical example is China Grain Export Corporation,

China National Oils and Fats Export Corporation and China National Food Export Corporation,

These export companies were important agricultural product exporters in my country immediately after liberation. While these companies were named export companies, they also later handled the import of some agricultural products. This was especially true during the Korean War, when they handled both import and export.

"However, in recent years, there has been significant overlap in agricultural product exports, with primary agricultural products and processed agricultural products being mixed together. Some processed agricultural products can be considered both grain exports and food exports. This has made export management difficult, with several export companies involved in this business. This has impacted export efficiency and caused management confusion."

"So our Ministry of Foreign Trade's idea is to merge the import and export businesses of similar industries and establish a unified import and export company."

After listening to Lei Renmin's report, Chen Yun asked:

"Comrade Zhou Bin, is this a serious problem?"

“It’s quite serious.”

Zhou Bin nodded and said, "There are too many people, too many organizations, and overlapping positions. More importantly, the imported and exported products sometimes overlap as well. So it seems that many import and export companies are developing well and expanding in size, but in fact, too many export and import companies have seriously affected the efficiency of imports and exports. Comrade Lei Renmin's suggestion is very reasonable. The central government should establish several key import and export companies to expand and strengthen the import and export business. The import and export business should be managed more uniformly, rather than in the current scattered and disorganized manner."

Zhou Bin is in charge of foreign trade.

He agreed, which basically represents the opinion of the entire foreign trade sector. However, at present, many import and export companies were established by various ministries and commissions in the early years. At the beginning of liberation, there was a shortage of certain things, or there was an excess of certain materials. In order to solve this problem, the central ministries and commissions

Just set up an import or export company in this area.

So even though these companies are now under the management of the Ministry of Foreign Trade, they each have their own support forces behind them.

The cadres of these companies were all sent by the central ministries. In addition to the central ministries, the local central bureaus at that time also had the ability to solve their own material problems.

A number of import and export companies were also established. Currently, these companies are under the management of the Ministry of Foreign Trade, but they also have close ties with the local government.

The Ministry of Foreign Trade now believes that this situation is too chaotic and wants to merge them. To put it bluntly, the Ministry of Foreign Trade will be truly responsible for the country's import and export business, and these companies will truly become trading companies under the Ministry of Foreign Trade. However, it is not so easy.

Zhou Bin felt it was a difficult problem, and the Ministry of Foreign Trade itself was even more unable to solve it. That was why Lei Renmin proposed it at the meeting of the Finance and Economics Working Committee and received support at the meeting. Chen Yun asked Lei Renmin to talk about the plan in detail. Lei Renmin said: "Based on the current import and export situation of our country, we will first unify the import and export business of most agricultural products. The Ministry of Foreign Trade means that the China National Cereals, Oils and Fats Export Corporation, the China National Oils and Fats Export Corporation and the China National Food Export Corporation will be merged into the China National Cereals, Oils and Fats Import and Export Corporation, which will mainly deal in grain,

Import and export of bulk agricultural products such as oils and fats, as well as canned foods.”

The company that Lei Renmin mentioned is actually the predecessor of the famous COFCO Group in history.