AWB Chapter 560 Breaking the Impasse and Seeking Development! Zhao Ruilong's Contribution!
Chapter 560 Breaking the Impasse and Seeking Development! Zhao Ruilong's Contribution!
The high-speed train sped along.
The train did not slow down at all when passing Kunshan South Station.
Looking at the night view of Kunshan city outside the window, Ma Yifeng couldn't help but sigh:
"The high-speed rail is so fast! It only took a little over ten minutes to get from Tianhai to Kunshan!"
“I remember when I was studying at university in Jingzhou, I made an appointment with my friends to go for a stroll in Tianhai.”
"Back then, I heard that Kunshan was close to Tianhai, but in reality, it would take more than an hour by bus."
Zhao Ruilong laughed and said, "High-speed trains already run at high speeds, and they run on passenger dedicated lines that don't get congested, so of course they're much faster than cars on highways."
"But I heard from my dad that you studied at Jingzhou University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, which used to be Jingzhou Aviation College, and you were studying two majors at the same time. How did you still have time to come to Tianhai to play?"
Ma Yifeng smiled somewhat awkwardly.
"When it comes to pursuing a girlfriend, if she wants to go to Tianhai for fun, of course I have to make time for her no matter how busy I am!"
Zhao Ruilong responded with an "oh," and then asked with curiosity and a gossip-like tone:
"So, did you manage to win her over?"
Ma Yifeng sighed, "I did manage to win her over, but we dated for two years and broke up after graduation."
"The reason is actually quite simple. Her family is well-off, and she wants to continue her studies abroad, while I was assigned to Shengyang Aircraft Factory, which is too far away. So we broke up peacefully."
"Even after we broke up, we kept in touch by letter. She stayed abroad after graduation, and it wasn't until the year before last, when her company was expanding into the Chinese market, that we met again after she arrived in Beijing."
Zhao Ruilong nodded slightly.
"Does she stay in China most of the time now?"
"She lives in China most of the time, and her husband and children have also moved there, but she herself often travels all over the country for work!"
At this point, Ma Yifeng quickly added another sentence.
"By the way, she is the China Regional Director of Fran Sofia Home Furnishings. The company mainly engages in the research, development, production and sales of furniture products such as cabinets, doors and sofas."
"She is particularly optimistic about the development prospects of China's real estate market. With her strong support, the company has already invested in building a large furniture factory in Dongguang."
Zhao Ruilong leaned against the car wall and laughed, "The real estate market in developed Western countries is basically saturated, but the urbanization process in our Dragon Country has not yet reached its peak. Therefore, furniture, home appliances, kitchen and bathroom products have great development potential in the next twenty years!"
Ma Yifeng raised an eyebrow.
Why is there only development potential in the next twenty years?
Zhao Ruilong was taken aback, not expecting Ma Yifeng to ask such a question.
But then he quickly remembered that Ma Yifeng was neither a time traveler nor someone who studied aviation and worked in civil aviation, so he obviously didn't know much about the real estate market.
"Of course, it's because the real estate market can't stay hot forever!"
"Although our country has a large population, there will eventually be a limit to the number of people who are willing and able to buy houses in the city."
"Therefore, once the urbanization rate reaches a certain level, no matter how much stimulation is given, the real estate market cannot continue to grow."
After thinking for a moment, Ma Yifeng smiled and said, "That's true. Houses are different from cars, mobile phones, clothes, and cosmetics, which can be replaced in a short time. Ordinary people work hard to buy a house and live in it for several years, or even longer."
"Moreover, the lifespan of houses is relatively long. As long as there is no serious shoddy construction or major disaster, it is fine to live in them for 30 to 50 years. As more and more houses are built, the number of new urban residents is decreasing. There will definitely be a time when it reaches its peak!"
At this point, Ma Yifeng asked curiously:
"However, there's one thing I don't quite understand. Why doesn't our Dragon Country treat real estate as a pillar industry of the national economy? We've even introduced a series of policies to regulate it, yet housing prices still keep rising?"
"Take Handong, for example. It has the strictest real estate control policies, with all sorts of restrictions on purchases, sales, and loans. Yet, the price increase is still the most dramatic. I heard that many new properties in Jingzhou have already broken the 5,000 yuan mark on average. It's really frightening!"
Zhao Ruilong smiled bitterly and sighed, "Why do housing prices keep rising? Is it really just because of the imbalance between supply and demand in the market, with supply falling short of demand? If you ask me, the most fundamental reason is the current fiscal and tax system!"
"Fiscal and tax system? What does that mean?"
Ma Yifeng's eyes widened; as a typical STEM guy, he really didn't understand.
Zhao Ruilong laughed and said, "After the tax-sharing reform was implemented back then, most of the fiscal revenue went to the central government, but the local governments still had to do a lot of work, such as infrastructure, education, health, and public security. There were so many places where money was spent. What to do? We sold land!"
"According to the law, local governments have the right to transfer land use rights, and the land transfer fees belong entirely to the local governments. They can spend this money however they want, so naturally, local governments are particularly keen to sell land at high prices!"
"Thus began the magnificent urbanization process of our Dragon Kingdom. Various places accelerated urban infrastructure construction, built wider roads, better buildings, and a large number of hospitals, schools, parks, etc., and introduced various policies to attract people to work, do business, study, seek medical treatment, and travel in the city."
“The main source of funding for urban construction and development is land sales. The money earned from land sales is invested in infrastructure, making the city more beautiful and attractive. As land prices rise, even more money can be made from selling land, thus creating a closed loop. With land prices continuously rising, how can housing prices not rise?”
Ma Yifeng nodded repeatedly.
"Now that you put it that way, I understand!"
“The government sells land to developers and receives huge land transfer fees, which then provide funds for urban construction.”
“After developers spend money to buy land and try every means to build houses, they still need to make a profit after deducting costs, so they can only sell to ordinary people at high prices.”
"Whether ordinary people are doing it to settle down and live there, or simply to invest, and whether they are paying in full at once, or emptying their savings and taking on a mortgage."
"As long as housing prices rise, there will be people buying houses, so local governments and developers will inevitably have sufficient incentive to continue to push up land prices and housing prices..."
At this point, Ma Yifeng suddenly became alert.
"That's not right. If that's the case, large-scale urban construction means that a lot of it is the hard-earned money of ordinary people. Even a prosperous and modern metropolis is built on the foundation of many people mortgaging their future."
Zhao Ruilong scoffed, "That depends on the location. Whether they've set up financing platforms like urban investment companies in addition to bank loans, thus accumulating a lot of local debt!"
Ma Yifeng was taken aback.
After pausing for two or three seconds, he let out a heavy sigh.
"Yes! Since economic growth is driven by debt, how can only ordinary people bear the burden of mortgages? Under the premise of judging success solely by GDP and using economic growth as a performance indicator, local officials will inevitably have the impulse to borrow money recklessly for investment."
"The one-sided pursuit of GDP has led many places to not only falsify data, but also to engage in high energy consumption and pollution while neglecting people's well-being and the development of spiritual civilization. However, in the current era, it is not an easy task to change this performance evaluation standard!"
Zhao Ruilong glanced sideways at the window.
"I remember that last year, our country's GDP only exceeded 14 trillion yuan, the per capita GDP barely exceeded 10,000 yuan, and the per capita annual disposable income was less than 6,000 yuan."
"This means that we are still far from building a moderately prosperous society, and a considerable number of people are still struggling to make ends meet. Therefore, we still need to make every effort to develop the economy."
Ma Yifeng hurriedly said, "Even if it's for the sake of economic development, we can't pollute first and then clean up later, at the cost of sacrificing lives, health, and the ecological environment!"
Zhao Ruilong turned to look at Ma Yifeng, who was somewhat agitated.
"To put it bluntly, isn't what you're saying just like 'Why don't they eat meat porridge?'"
"Who wouldn't want to develop high-tech industries? It's easy, environmentally friendly, and profitable."
"But many places simply do not have the conditions to develop high-tech industries, and even low-end industries that are energy-intensive and highly polluting cannot be developed anywhere."
"Like most ordinary people, they all dream of a comfortable 9-to-5 job with weekends off, five social insurances and one housing fund, high salary and good benefits, but such good jobs are obviously too few."
"Without strong connections, good talent and skills, or even a solid education, ordinary people can only rely on selling their physical labor and sacrificing their health to make a living."
"Especially those born in rural areas who started working before finishing junior or senior high school, as cheap labor, what right do they have to bargain? If you don't want to do the work, there are plenty of people willing to do it!"
Ma Yifeng remained silent.
He knew that it was not easy for a large agricultural country to develop into an industrial powerhouse.
Such a momentous event cannot be accomplished by a small group of social elites holding a meeting and talking.
It requires the entire nation to seize every favorable opportunity and invest heavily in education, infrastructure, and scientific research, while continuously reforming and innovating, and making enormous sacrifices.
However, the improvement of technological level, the growth of industrial strength, the improvement of population quality, and the accumulation of social wealth are all long processes that require time.
Looking at the world, those developed countries also went through a process of development and accumulation, and most of them were very dirty and bloody, full of exploitation and plunder.
In today's era, if the Dragon Kingdom cannot accumulate wealth through foreign wars and plunder, it can only pay a higher price and make greater efforts.
Therefore, for a long time to come, China will place particular emphasis on exports among the three major drivers of economic growth: investment, consumption, and exports.
By developing an export-oriented economy and taking over low- and mid-range production capacity transferred from the West, we can complete the initial accumulation of capital and technology at a certain cost.
Why was Handong able to achieve high-quality development under the leadership of Zhao Lichun and the promotion of Zhao Ruilong after entering the 21st century?
That's because since the beginning of opening up to the outside world, Handong Province, as a coastal region, has accumulated more than 20 years of experience thanks to its unique advantages.
In addition, Zhao Ruilong has a forward-looking vision, and his Huilong Group has attracted a lot of investment, which has enabled him to have the financial strength to engage in high technology and promote high-quality economic development.
therefore.
We cannot assume that other companies can do the same just because Huilong Group and its related enterprises treat talent well and offer employees high salaries and benefits.
It cannot be assumed that other provinces and cities can also abandon the traditional view of political achievements and start pursuing high-quality development like Tianhai City and Handong Province. What similar foundation and conditions do they have?
Even without the investment and guidance of Huilong Group, Tianhai City and Handong Province, located in the coastal plain area and with developed shipping conditions, have a greater advantage in developing foreign trade than the central and western provinces and cities.
"Ruilong, I suddenly realize that it was incredibly wise of the higher authorities to support you and your father in developing a high-quality economy and military-civilian integration pilot project in Handong!"
"If our Dragon Country wants to become a modern, powerful nation with advanced technology, developed industry, and prosperous economy, we can't keep focusing on low-end and mid-range industries. Sooner or later, we will have to upgrade."
"Letting Handong Province, which has the necessary conditions, take the lead can not only accelerate industrial transformation and upgrading, but also avoid vicious competition with other provinces and cities, thus benefiting the rapid development of our entire country!"
Zhao Ruilong smiled and said, "Industrial upgrading is of course better the sooner the better!"
"If we keep struggling in low- and mid-end industries, relying on selling cheap labor, industrial raw materials, and primary industrial products, at the expense of workers' health and the pollution of the ecological environment, to earn a little profit, we will never be able to achieve prosperity and strength!"