Chapter 138: No Companies Listed?

Nordman only came to Nanjiang for a brief visit, so he didn't stay long. He left for Hong Kong the next day.

Zhou Ming, Zhang Heng, and Luo Han saw him off to the Nanhu Port. At the station square, Nordman shook Zhou Ming's hand firmly and said, "Mr. Zhou, meeting you has made my trip to China very rewarding. I can't imagine how someone with such foresight like you could emerge from this closed-off land. Your ideas are astonishing, and many of your concepts are unheard of to me."

Nordman sighed again and continued, "It's just a pity that I have to leave after only one day here. Otherwise, I would really like to stay and witness the Eastern miracle of you, Mr. Zhou."

Zhou Ming replied, "Mr. Nordman, there's no need to feel regret. We Chinese are very hospitable, and we are currently undergoing reform and opening up. We have actively opened our doors to integrate with the world, so if you want to come back, you're always welcome."

"Is that so? That's great," Nordman said with pleasure. "Mr. Zhou, I believe your talent should be known to the whole world. It's a pity to keep it in your country alone. Have you considered my suggestion to come to America?"

"I appreciate your invitation, Mr. Nordman. I will consider it carefully and definitely visit in the future, but not right now. As you know, my country still needs me," Zhou Ming said.

While Zhou Ming was speaking with Nordman, the journalists nearby were busy snapping photos. Whether from American or Hong Kong journalists, they kept pressing the shutters to capture this precious moment.

Hearing the camera clicks, Wang Jian stood aside with a blank expression. In fact, from yesterday to today, if Nordman's praise for Zhou Ming was like a slap in the face to him, then now his face felt like it was swollen like a pig's head. In this situation, he just wanted to find a hole to hide in and never show his face in front of Zhou Ming again.

After bidding farewell to Zhou Ming, Nordman and his team crossed the bridge back to Hong Kong, and Zhou Ming returned to the municipal government to report to Chen Yunfei.

As soon as Zhou Ming entered Chen Yunfei's office, Chen Yunfei greeted him with a smile, "I saw Comrade Zhang Heng's report. You're quite something, you managed to impress even a foreign expert."

Zhou Ming was not surprised that Chen Yunfei knew about the previous day's events. After all, it was Chen Yunfei who had arranged for Zhou Ming and Zhang Heng to host Nordman, and Zhang Heng had to report to him daily, detailing the day's events. Given the importance of hosting Nordman and Zhou Ming's success in presenting the country well in front of a foreign expert, it was only natural that Chen Yunfei would be informed.

Zhou Ming shrugged and said, "It was just that my ideas happened to align with his. Additionally, I had read some of his economic works during university. Being able to cater to his preferences, you could say I was just flattering him."

Chen Yunfei laughed heartily, "Indeed, if everyone could flatter others as well as you did, then the term 'flattery' would have to be considered a compliment."

After this, Chen Yunfei asked, "However, he is an expert in foreign economics, and we should not ignore his opinions. Did he provide any suggestions?"

Zhou Ming thought for a moment and replied, "His opinions mainly focused on legal and regulatory aspects. His biggest concern about our securities market is that we lack corresponding capitalist regulations and their set of free market theories. How can we ensure fairness, justice, and transparency in securities market transactions? How can we ensure the market operates stably?"

Chen Yunfei had already seen these concerns in the report from Zhang Heng but was still surprised to hear Zhou Ming articulate them: "Aren't these the issues you discussed with Yang Lao? It seems you and the foreign expert's views are indeed in agreement. If I didn't know you were a native Chinese, I would suspect you had already colluded with foreign experts."

Zhou Ming felt embarrassed because his ability to address these key issues stemmed from his memories of the next twenty years, insights accumulated by numerous elites over that time, which naturally allowed him to hit the nail on the head.

This was something Zhou Ming could not disclose. He could only say, "Mayor Chen, I think these are quite basic points. After all, 'no rules, no standards'!"

"Well said, 'no rules, no standards!'" Chen Yunfei praised. "While anyone can say this, you are the only one who has truly identified the issues and dared to speak them out in front of Yang Lao."

Chen Yunfei continued, "By the way, the suggestions you gave to Zhang Heng have been compiled into a document and submitted. The State Council has issued a directive to establish a securities company to act as the stock exchange, to gauge the market response. The provincial and municipal governments have discussed it, and we aim to set up the securities company within this week."

"So soon?" Zhou Ming was surprised.

In Zhou Ming's memory, the Nanjiang Securities Company was supposed to be established next year. Although he could anticipate significant changes due to his rebirth, he did not expect the change to come so quickly. The establishment of this securities company was a central decision, and he was just a powerless figure at the moment.

Chen Yunfei said, "Time waits for no one, so the sooner, the better. However, you need to manage the operation and trading of the securities company well. You must ensure that the market thrives."

"Rest assured, Mayor Chen, the securities market will certainly have great development!" Zhou Ming confidently assured.

...

After leaving Chen Yunfei's office, Zhou Ming went to the office of the Securities Market Construction Leading Group at the Municipal Committee. Zhang Heng stood up to greet him. Although Zhang Heng was still only a deputy director of the office, due to the other municipal and government officials being busy with other matters, Zhang Heng had become the practical leader of the office.

Zhou Ming arrived at Zhang Heng's office, and Zhang Heng handed him the prepared documents, saying, "Advisor Zhou, these are the documents related to the securities company. The basic rules and operating methods are modeled after those of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Additionally, our office, together with the Municipal Committee Office and the City Government Office, is working on a temporary management method for the securities market, which includes basic company law, securities law, accounting law, contract law, and trading law."

As Zhou Ming looked over the documents, he asked Zhang Heng, "What about the supervisory agency?"

"This report has been submitted to the Municipal Committee Office, and the Municipal Committee has tentatively agreed to establish a Securities Market Supervision Group, affiliated with the Municipal Political and Legal Affairs Office," Zhang Heng replied.

This arrangement might seem somewhat unorthodox from a modern perspective, but for the current era, it was the best approach.

Zhou Ming was merely a reborn individual, not an omnipotent deity, and couldn't make things turn out exactly as he wished.

"As long as the basic framework is set up, that's fine. However, attention must be paid to some details. Although the supervisory group is affiliated with the Political and Legal Affairs Office, the primary work of constructing the securities market still lies with your office. Moreover, the main leaders of the Securities Market Construction Leading Group are also municipal leaders. Therefore, you must also oversee the operation of the securities company and the supervision of the securities market. You can't just wash your hands of it once the company is established," Zhou Ming advised Zhang Heng.

Zhang Heng nodded in agreement, "You can rest assured, Advisor Zhou. I will keep this in mind. After all, I've invested a lot of effort into building the securities market, and I don't want it to encounter any problems."

Zhou Ming had no reason to doubt Zhang Heng's words. Since Qiao Weijiang's downfall, Zhang Heng's only support in the political arena had been the construction of the securities market. Unless he was willing to gamble with his future, he would certainly do his utmost to make it succeed. Given his later entry into the central government, he must have been a person with vision and ambition, so he wouldn't be careless about this matter.

However, Zhang Heng hesitated and said, "But, Advisor Zhou, there is one issue that might be troublesome."

Zhou Ming raised his eyebrows and asked, "What issue?"

"It's about the listed companies," Zhang Heng said. "Currently, the only company confirmed to list on the securities company is Nanjiang Development Bank. Isn't that a bit too few?"

"Only one? That is a bit strange," Zhou Ming said.

According to the usual rules in the officialdom, if the government decides to pilot something, it must succeed. Just like the previous government's land auction activities in Nanjiang, it was necessary to set an exemplary model for the future.

The establishment of the securities company was no different. As the predecessor to the future Nanjiang Stock Exchange, the securities company needed to at least create the appearance of a securities market. However, if, as Zhang Heng said, only one company was confirmed to list, that was clearly insufficient, especially since this company was one where Zhou Ming and Du Peng were major shareholders, and his first vice president, Luo Han, was also one of the founders of the securities company.

"Perhaps other companies do not understand the securities market well and are reluctant to agree to list due to fears of potential issues," Zhou Ming said to Zhang Heng. "How about this, Director Zhang? Arrange a dinner with the heads of some Nanjiang and Ling

nan joint-stock companies. I'll talk to them."

Zhou Ming believed that perhaps his changes to history, causing the securities company to be established early, had led these company heads to be unprepared for listing and hesitant. He wanted to discuss with them, but at this moment, he did not realize that the situation was not as simple as he thought.