inspire-indiana Chapter 1070 Reform in Progress
Chapter 1070 Reform in Progress
Ma Da successfully obtained the title of head of the reorganization.
As soon as the meeting ended, he couldn't wait to walk out of the meeting room side by side with Xia Guanglei, and kept talking about his views on the reorganization plan.
Watching the two figures walk away, Xu Lian asked Qi Tongwei, puzzled, "Mayor, how could you give up such a great achievement?"
Qi Tongwei replied casually, "I don't think this is that simple."
Don't you think about how many years Hansteel's problems have existed? Although there has been some improvement in the last two years, in my opinion, it's just a temporary resurgence.
If it weren't for the few good projects we did together and the profits we made, we might not even have been able to pay salaries.
If it were really as simple as Xia Guanglei described, why wouldn't he do it himself and instead give us this remarkable achievement?
Over the years, Qi Tongwei has not been idle; one could say he has been trying to save Hansteel by leveraging some promising projects in Beishan City.
For example, shipyards.
His original intention was to have Beishan buy it and register it with the Beishan State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.
Then, after a second thought, I discussed it with Qi Jiashan, the chairman and party secretary of Hansteel.
The two companies will directly share ownership and develop the business together.
Qi Jiashan, however, was very bold. He waved his hand and said: "We don't need Beishan to pay a single penny. We can hand over the Han Steel Shipyard without hesitation."
The only requirement is to use workers from Hansteel, and in addition, they should invest in the factory and only receive dividends, without participating in management.
Thanks to Qi Tongwei's efforts, the shipyard secured many orders from Hong Kong Island and gradually turned a profit.
Of course, compared to the enormous size of Hansteel, this shipyard with 2,000 employees is still a drop in the ocean.
Xu Lian said, "Maybe he doesn't have much specific work experience. Didn't all the projects he brought in end up being handed over to our municipal government?"
Moreover, as the top leader, he doesn't need to do everything himself.
Anyway, when the results came out, he was still the one who took the lion's share.
My recommendation is probably just a safer option; otherwise, if the reform fails, he will certainly bear most of the responsibility.
Qi Tongwei said, "Then we definitely shouldn't get involved in this mess."
If the reorganization is successful, everyone will be happy.
If we fail, who knows what he'll think? Will he think we're deliberately trying to sabotage him?
If we report this to the provincial party committee, we might end up being labeled as politically inept and lacking in consideration for the bigger picture.
He waved his hand, "Anyway, I have no intention of getting involved in this mess."
That's good. Let the motor test the waters first, then we can get a clearer picture before making a decision.
……
Just as Qi Tongwei had predicted.
A few days later, Ma Da, beaming, rushed into the Han Steel Group office building, wanting to convene a Party Committee meeting on behalf of the Hanjiang Provincial Party Committee and the Beishan Municipal Party Committee to publicly announce the restructuring and appointment decisions.
Before he could even step into the conference room, he was blocked in the corridor by a group of senior executives from Hansteel Group and unceremoniously "invited" out.
The reason is simple yet painful—his motor level isn't high enough.
Although the central and provincial government have issued official documents, the leadership team of Hansteel has not yet been adjusted.
Qi Jiashan, the deputy ministerial-level Party Secretary, was not transferred but instead retained to lead and cooperate with the restructuring work of Hanjiang Province.
Qi Jiashan said: We can accept the reform, but the province must send someone of sufficient influence to discuss it.
What does it mean to have enough substance?
Beishan only acknowledges two people: Xia Guanglei and Qi Tongwei.
Recognizing Xia Guanglei is about his identity, while recognizing Qi Tongwei is about both his identity and his abilities.
Xia Guanglei goes without saying; he's a second-generation scion, just beginning to show his talent.
Their future achievements will be no less than his, if not greater.
Even today, he's only half a grade below him; who knows, he might be promoted in the next couple of years.
He lowered his head slightly. It was alright; no one would say anything.
As for Qi Tongwei, needless to say.
A farmer's child who has achieved what he has today is probably unmatched by many others across the country.
Not only is he exceptionally capable, but he is also highly favored by the central and provincial leaders.
The relationship between the two has also developed well over the years.
As a vice-ministerial level official, he could easily cooperate with these two as equals.
But what is a motor anyway?
He's a rank below him and lacks the ability. How can someone like that be worthy of sitting on his head as a vice-ministerial level official and giving him orders?
If word gets out, will he still be able to work in politics?
After making those harsh remarks, Qi Jiashan immediately drove to the Beishan Municipal Party Committee, and on the way, he didn't forget to call Qi Tongwei.
"Hey, Tongwei, what's going on? The higher-ups said they wanted to restructure Hansteel, and I had no objection. The provincial party committee wants to hand Hansteel over to your Beishan Municipal Party Committee for implementation, and I have no objection there either."
"But you can't be so dismissive. Putting a motor manufacturer in charge of our Hansteel, I don't know what your Beishan Municipal Party Committee was thinking? Aren't you afraid of causing big problems, or even a mass incident?"
The two had a good personal relationship, so Qi Jiashan spoke quite casually.
Qi Tongwei chuckled and said, "Chairman Qi, what makes you say that? How could letting Comrade Ma Da preside over the restructuring of Hansteel cause such a big problem? Or even such a serious mass incident?"
Qi Jiashan said, "Do I need to spell it out for you? Don't you think he even has that ability?"
Qi Tongwei was still smiling. "Chairman Qi, isn't your statement too arbitrary? Comrade Ma Da is the deputy secretary of the municipal party committee appointed by the Hanjiang Provincial Party Committee to Beishan."
His rank already speaks volumes about his ability. Even if you don't trust him, you should trust the provincial party committee, right?
Moreover, Comrade Ma Da said at the meeting that he had presided over the transformation of a large military industrial group in the 1970s.
History tells us that this military industrial group has been quite successful in its transformation.
I've heard it's a magnificent miracle of the Han River! I think you should give him more trust.
“Brilliant achievements?” Qi Jiashan said irritably, “Tongwei, are you kidding me, or do you really not know?”
Was that TV factory built thanks to his motor?
It was clearly Comrade Anbang who caused this, but this guy insists on pinning it on himself and spreading it around. He's utterly shameless.
Let's talk about the history you mentioned. In fact, the real history is that this comrade simply didn't have the ability to manage the economy.
Not long after Comrade Anbang was transferred, the color TV factory fell into a state of annual losses because its products could not keep up with market changes, leaving a lot of trouble for the people of Wenshan, which has not been completely resolved to this day.
It can be said that Wenshan's economy has not developed to this day, and he and Tian Fengyi bear the main responsibility.
Tian Fengyi is incompetent, but he's not only incompetent, he's also a bad person.
Worried that Qi Tongwei wouldn't believe him, Qi Jiashan even produced supporting evidence, mentioning something that everyone in the Hanjiang political arena knew.
"Take his time running that color TV factory, for example. There was this incident where one of their cardboard box suppliers..."
Suddenly, it dawned on me: "Oh, right, I remember that supplier came to Beishan and set up some kind of cable factory."
Qi Tongwei picked up the conversation and added, "You mean Mr. Wu Asia, the general manager of Asia Cable Factory, right?"
Qi Jiashan replied, "Yes, yes, I heard something before, that Wu Yazhou was arrested in Wenshan? Is it Ma Da retaliating?"
He then made a series of connections and said to himself, "So, could it be that Wu Yazhou's investment in Beishan was also orchestrated by Ma Da?"
Seeing that Qi Jiashan's words were getting more and more outrageous, Qi Tongwei could only interrupt, "That's not true. It was just a misunderstanding caused by a batch of substandard cables."
Mr. Wu has already left after compensating for the losses caused by that batch of cables.
He is now a well-known private entrepreneur in our city, and two months ago...
He has been selected as a representative of our city.
Qi Jiashan was surprised, "Tongwei, you seem to know this Wu Yazhou very well."
Qi Tongwei explained, "Oh, he was introduced by Governor Anbang. He is one of the first private entrepreneurs I attracted to invest and build factories in Beishan."
So, I have a pretty deep impression of him.
This is also the suggestion I made to the Party.
Qi Jiashan didn't ask any more questions. It's normal for people at their level to have a few familiar entrepreneurs.
The topic returned to motors, and to that color TV factory from seven or eight years ago.
"Tongwei, you'd better ask this Boss Wu what kind of person Mada is. I think he must know him well."
The supplier delivered cardboard boxes to them according to the purchase order, but they didn't store them properly and they got soaked by the flood.
This guy, Mr. Ma, actually came up with a "brilliant plan" to shift the losses onto the supplier. It's amazing that he could think of such a thing.
You're saying that someone with such poor ability and character is being put in charge of the restructuring of Hansteel?
I have serious doubts. If he can't get it going, won't he shift some of the debt and responsibility onto the workers and onto me?
Qi Tongwei laughed heartily, "Chairman Qi, aren't you overthinking this? Even if Comrade Ma Da is incredibly bold, he wouldn't dare to shift the blame onto you and the workers."
You are not just some private entrepreneur, but the Party Secretary of Hansteel, a state-owned enterprise, a senior leader at the vice-ministerial level.
Qi Jiashan said self-deprecatingly, "What Party Secretary, what senior leader? Now I'm just a sinner who has failed the Party and the country."
"Hey, Chairman Qi, this isn't your fault. It's just the trend of the times, something that can't be changed by human effort."
Qi Jiashan disagreed with Qi Tongwei's statement, saying, "If someone had told me this before, I would have believed it to some extent."
You tell me this, but I can only agree with a fraction of it.
Seeing how well you've managed Beishan, I realize that it's not that everything is beyond human capability, but rather a lack of vision and perspective.
Tell me, if Hansteel had transformed itself like Beishan did back then, expanding into new businesses like Beishan Automobile and Beishan Special Vehicles, industries related to steel.
On the other hand, we retain high-quality assets, such as shipyards, and further increase revenue and reduce expenditure.
Do you think Hansteel has a chance to get out of this predicament?
Qi Tongwei spoke frankly: "Yes, but not much. Chairman Qi, you missed the most important point, which is that in addition to turning losses into profits, you also bear the political responsibility of being the leader in the steel industry. If you can't do this, it's only a matter of time before you are restructured."
"Yes, yes, yes." After Qi Tongwei's prompting, Qi Jiashan instantly understood a lot. "It seems that the higher-ups' decision to transfer Han Steel to Hanjiang was a well-planned move."
They want our Hansteel and your Beisteel to merge, right?
"Pretty much, but it doesn't necessarily have to be integrated with Beigang. There are other steel companies in Hanjiang. Of course, at present, Beigang is the most suitable."
In recent years, Beishan has invested a lot of money in the development of Beigang.
The expenditure on talent acquisition is particularly enormous.
Among them were more than a dozen Japanese and German experts, all of whom were top talents in the steel industry.
If Qi Tongwei hadn't gotten in touch with Munich Mayor Ude, he probably wouldn't have been able to find these talents even with a lot of money.
At the same time, he also introduced some steelmaking technologies from Germany.
Although the technology was not the most advanced due to technological blockades, it was still considered to be at a leading level in China.
This is crucial, as it not only helped Kitayama strengthen the foundation of the steel industry but also laid the groundwork for future research directions.
Besides the right technology and talent, there's also the core of Beigang – its corporate culture and style.
The reason why Beigang was able to break through the encirclement was entirely due to the concerted efforts of Qi Tongwei and He Anxia; otherwise, the restructuring of Beishan's steel industry would not have gone so smoothly.
It was precisely their decisive and efficient actions that forged a young and dynamic team for Beigang.
And it is precisely this youthfulness and vitality that Hansteel lacks.
Hansteel has a long history, and long history means decay, sticking to old ways, and losing the necessary sensitivity to the market.
Once in this situation, no matter how large the company is, it's only a matter of time before it collapses.
This is also a key reason why Hansteel was directly assigned to the Han River.
The goal is to sever the rotten atmosphere clinging to Hanjiang Steel, inject new vitality, and allow Hanjiang to undergo a thorough reform and achieve revitalization.
Having grasped the true intentions of those above, Qi Jiashan couldn't help but sigh, "The comrades above are truly farsighted and have thought things through so deeply." He felt even more ashamed.
"I understand, I understand everything."
Tongwei, before we set off, I felt that if Hansteel were to undergo restructuring, you and Xia Guanglei would be the only ones suitable.
Now that I look at it again, I feel that, not to mention Beishan, there is no one more suitable than you in the entire Han River region.
Tongwei, I sincerely request that you take charge of the restructuring of Hansteel. Rest assured, I will fully cooperate! I will stand guard for you until the very end.
Qi Tongwei was stunned for a moment, realizing how he had gotten himself into this mess. He quickly tried to salvage the situation, "Chairman Qi, don't make a decision so quickly. Actually, I think Comrade Ma Da is quite good..."
Qi Jiashan interrupted, "Tongwei, stop spouting nonsense to me. Do you think I don't know whether he's capable or not?"
If I were to believe him, that would be irresponsible towards the 80,000 to 90,000 workers at Hansteel.
Qi Tongwei was both amused and exasperated, and could only change his approach, "Chairman Qi, if you really don't trust Comrade Ma Da, I think you should take charge of the restructuring work yourself."
I've already provided you with the ideas. Rather than having us make the changes, it's better for us to cooperate and for you to personally oversee the process. I think that would be a fitting final post for Hansteel Station.