Chapter 241: To Get Rich, First Build the Road

In the conference hall of the Jingchu Provincial People's Congress, applause erupted like a tidal wave. Everyone was clapping for the national leader Du Zhongyuan's endorsement of the township industrial park concept. Only Liang An was feeling dejected.

How could this happen? Why did Chairman Du support that rural tycoon? He had just praised my ideas! How did he turn around and support the township industrial park?

Liang An was perplexed, and the applause in the hall sounded even more grating to him, as if each clap was a slap to his face. His earlier opposition to Zhou Ming seemed to have turned into an act of clownish self-promotion, no matter how hard he had tried, it only ended in laughter from the crowd.

"Since Chairman Du has said so, it seems I didn't consider things thoroughly. I need to strengthen my own thinking and perspective."

Liang An left the stage hastily after saying this, even though his opposition to Zhou Ming's ideas was only a small part of his speech. The reaction from Du Zhongyuan had left him unsure of how to continue.

After Liang An, other representatives spoke in order. With Liang An's blunder as an example, they understood the direction and praised the township industrial park as a great idea for stimulating rural economic development. Liang An felt as if his face was being slapped repeatedly by these people.

At 11:30 a.m., the meeting ended, and Liang An hurriedly left the venue, fearing that Zhou Ming might come looking for him. If Zhou Ming said a few more words to him, he would truly be too embarrassed to continue the meeting.

Zhou Ming and Liang An were seated close to each other. Watching Liang An leave in a hurry, Zhou Ming shook his head, thinking that this guy was overthinking things. He had long passed the age of youthful arrogance and had no interest in engaging in such petty disputes.

Regardless of Liang An's antics, Zhou Ming packed up his materials and prepared to leave. At that moment, Secretary Wu Shiping from Governor Xiong's office approached and said that Chairman Du wanted to invite him for lunch.

Zhou Ming followed Wu Shiping to the provincial government guesthouse. As the national leader, Du Zhongyuan would naturally be in the best private room. When Zhou Ming arrived, Du Zhongyuan, Provincial Party Secretary Jiang Wen, and Governor Xiong Qingping were already seated. Seeing Zhou Ming enter, Du Zhongyuan waved him over to sit beside him. Zhou Ming hesitated, saying, "Is that appropriate?"

Du Zhongyuan waved his hand and said, "It's fine. This is not a formal occasion; we're just having a meal privately, so don't worry too much about it."

Jiang Wen and Xiong Qingping also echoed Du Zhongyuan, encouraging Zhou Ming to relax and not be so constrained.

With the three leaders saying so, Zhou Ming accepted the invitation and sat down. He first thanked Du Zhongyuan, saying, "Thank you, Chairman Du, for your support earlier."

"I'm not supporting you; I'm supporting your idea of the township industrial park," Du Zhongyuan corrected him. "You're right. Our country is very poor. Before the establishment of the new China, the whole country was devastated by war. We built the new China on ruins. Even now, with reform and opening up, the rural economy is still suffering from the legacy of past policies. Without taking some measures, it would be at least twenty years before rural areas could develop on their own."

The idea of rural township industrial parks had been around since the 1990s. Du Zhongyuan probably didn't anticipate how rapidly the country's economy would develop, and Zhou Ming wouldn't argue with Du Zhongyuan about recent years.

Du Zhongyuan didn't dwell on the future much. Influenced by Yang Lao's pragmatism, Du Zhongyuan asked Zhou Ming, "What are your plans for the township industrial park?"

"The next step is to attract investment," Zhou Ming said.

The term "attract investment" caught the attention of Du Zhongyuan and the others. It wasn't that the term was particularly new—people had proposed the concept of investment attraction over a hundred years ago. Despite interruptions due to various reasons, the concept was revived with the reform and opening up. The Nanjing Economic Zone was set up specifically to attract investment.

What was surprising was that attracting investment was usually aimed at coastal special zones like Nanjing, often to attract foreign companies. Why was Zhou Ming, from an inland township industrial park, also focusing on attracting investment?

In response to their curiosity, Zhou Ming explained, "Chairman Du, an industrial park with only 760 factories is unrealistic. We can't have most people in the park still farming. As you know, rural areas are poor, and it's not realistic to expect many businesses to start there. To quickly develop the industrial park, we need to attract investment to build factories."

Du Zhongyuan nodded, "To fill out the industrial park, attracting investment is indeed a way. However, I understand that you don't seem to have any advantages."

"Chairman Du, I believe advantages have to be discovered and created by ourselves," Zhou Ming said. "This will be mentioned in my subsequent reports to the People's Congress. I hope to establish an investment promotion agency in the industrial park or government to handle investment attraction. Additionally, the local government could provide some tax incentives and, coupled with lower wages compared to the coast, I believe it would still be quite attractive."

"Very well said!"

Du Zhongyuan clapped his hands in delight, then turned to Jiang Wen and Xiong Qingping, saying, "Comrade Zhou Ming's ideas are very good and worth discussing. We can start with a pilot in Nanjing Industrial Park. If it proves successful, it can be promoted throughout the province and even nationwide. It might become a model for township economies in the future!"

Zhou Ming was surprised by Du Zhongyuan's reaction, as his ideas were essentially standard practices for developing local economies in the future—various development zones, various investment attractions, even impoverished counties would have them.

Because it was so common, Zhou Ming hadn't thought much of it. However, considering that such policies were summarized by the country after years of exploration, presenting them now could indeed be eye-catching.

Especially since Zhou Ming's industrial park was in the inland, creating conditions for attracting investment had even greater significance.

Jiang Wen and Xiong Qingping agreed and instructed their secretaries to take notes. Zhou Ming then asked, "Chairman Du, Secretary Jiang, Governor Xiong, I have one more suggestion. I'm not sure if I should say it."

Du Zhongyuan smiled and pointed at Zhou Ming, "You're quite the thoughtful comrade. I've said, today we're just having a private meal. You can say whatever you want, don't hold back."

Jiang Wen and Xiong Qingping also encouraged Zhou Ming to speak freely. Zhou Ming then said, "To develop the economy, one crucial factor is transportation. This is something I have experienced personally!"

Zhou Ming sighed and continued, "During the New Year, as you all know, my eight-treasure porridge was in high demand in the four major cities. Many stores ran out of stock, and there were many calls to the factory. I was anxious to ship, but the transportation issues were significant, especially during the New Year, making it even more challenging."

"If I found this frustrating, it's even worse for other investors. So," Zhou Ming concluded, "I believe the saying is true: to get rich, first build the road. Without a well-connected transportation network, economic development is very difficult."

Hearing this, Du Zhongyuan and the others fell into silence. After a while, Du Zhongyuan said, "To get rich, first build the road—this saying is correct. In fact, when the central government established Nanjing as an economic zone, this issue was also considered. However, we couldn't solve it because the country was too poor to fund it!"

"You probably know from the news that we started building highways several years ago. Except for a highway in the coastal area nearing completion, other places have had delays and stops due to funding issues," Du Zhongyuan said.

Zhou Ming, having only heard about this situation and being reborn into a future where funding for highways and high-speed rail was more readily available, felt the gravity of the situation now.

Seeing that the central government was genuinely struggling with funds, Zhou Ming said, "Actually, Chairman Du, it's not that hard to come up with the money for road construction. We can support road construction through the roads themselves."

Du Zhongyuan was surprised and said, "Tell me more."

"Firstly, building roads in industrial parks is relatively simple. We can either deduct from enterprise taxes or collect from land leases. The key issue is the highway connecting various cities."

Du Zhongyuan nodded in agreement, and Zhou Ming continued, "Since the government can't provide the funds, we can open bidding to the whole society and let other companies fund the construction!"

"Of course, no one will do a loss-making venture, especially for a huge investment project like road construction. To ensure construction companies can recoup their investment and even make a profit, I suggest allowing the construction companies to set up toll stations on the highways. The toll fees collected from vehicles can be used to repay the construction costs. This is what I mean by supporting road construction through the roads themselves."