Chapter 27 exit

The importance of Guangzhou soon became apparent. "After the founding of the People's Republic of China, our foreign trade basically had two legs, one was trade with the 'Su Xin' (the Soviet Union and the new democratic countries), and the other was trade with investment." Lu Jianxing, who worked in Guangdong Customs after the founding of the People's Republic of China, said, " The former was mainly engaged in heavy industry trade, exporting machinery and some heavy industry materials, but the Soviet Union’s heavy industry itself was very developed, and relying on this part to generate foreign exchange income was very limited, so in fact, the latter was more important in the context of the time. Through the Guangzhou Ports, through Hong Kong and Macau, produced local products and food products were more important foreign exchange earning channels at that time. Although the value of each piece of these export products was not high, the quantity was huge. Nearly half or even more of China’s foreign exchange earnings came from Hong Kong, and they All must pass through Guangzhou." Lu Jianxing was an official of Guangzhou Customs during the Kuomintang era. As the first customs system to introduce the Western civil service system, there has been a tradition of mobilizing customs officials every three years since the Nationalist Government. In 1949, he was in Chongqing Customs. Lu Jianxing, who had just become a regular, was transferred to Guangdong Customs, and a new era began.

The earliest people to make full use of this channel before and after liberation were private capital eager to escape from the country. "A large amount of bureaucratic capital and market hot money in Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas flowed southward through Guangzhou and Hong Kong." Lu Jianxing recalled, "'Shendian' became the most popular financial derivative at that time. This kind of telegram from Shanghai to Guangzhou Remittance, in fact, is to convert domestic funds from the old government’s currency into Hong Kong dollars and then flow into Hong Kong, and then use Hong Kong’s free financial market to speculate on the spot or transfer them abroad. From 1948 to early 1949, Guangzhou’s banks and banks formed formed a complex triangular arbitrage relationship.” After liberation, the value of this channel was reused by the new regime.

The day before the Guangzhou Liberation Ceremony was held, Ma Shicheng’s troops received an order to continue southward from Guangzhou to recover Hong Kong and Macau. They all went down to the river to take a shower." Ma Shicheng recalled, "At this moment, the army communication officer suddenly said that there was a new order from above, and they were not allowed to move forward." It was not until the 1980s that Ma Shicheng learned the real reason why the march was unexpectedly stopped from his superior Zhang Shijie. "After the liberation, the veterans of the army reunited. General Zhang told us that it was Pan Hannian and Liao Chengzhi who advised the central government that it was not appropriate for the army to enter Hong Kong in 1949. The reason was that the United States was implementing Dulles' blockade policy. , Shanghai, Tianjin, Qingdao and other port cities have almost cut off trade with foreign countries. If Hong Kong is taken back, the only trade channel leading to the international community will be closed. When the Republic was first established, urgently needed military supplies and the only foreign exchange income The channel will also be cut off. For Hong Kong, it will also become a dead port. Therefore, to retain Hong Kong’s status as a free port for a certain period of time, and to be temporarily administered by the British, this is tantamount to tearing a gap in the US blockade against China.”

The estimates of Pan and Liao proved to be very accurate afterwards. Lu Jianxing said: "Because of the sharp shrinkage of Hong Kong's entrepot trade, the Hong Kong government adopted a double-sided policy on the embargo. It continued to issue laws and expand the scope of the embargo; but in the United States When the pressure was slightly relaxed, the export of "specific items" that businessmen applied for was secretly approved for export. In general, the control over smuggling to the mainland of China was sometimes tight and sometimes loose. Because the United States sent people to monitor, the control was relatively tight in the summer of 1952. Yan. But at the end of the year, the Hong Kong government came up with another way, and the Administration for Industry and Commerce used the method of exporting prohibited goods without archiving to deal with the surveillance of the United States." "This has created a valuable trade channel for the mainland. In addition to such Hong Kong, Macao and Chinese businessmen, some capitalist countries and businessmen from these countries also use Hong Kong and Macao as bases to conduct open or secret trade with the mainland of China. Even the United States has not completely banned trade with China. According to statistics, the value of goods imported from the United States to China through the Guangzhou Port this year was 27.7 million US dollars."

As a result, Guangzhou has become the most important frontier for the Chinese government to obtain embargoed materials and raise foreign exchange. "For this reason, the Ministry of Foreign Trade has set up three bureaus in Guangzhou, namely the Foreign Trade Bureau, to implement comprehensive control over import and export trade." Lu Jianxing recalled that before liberation, there were a large number of businessmen in Guangzhou who were engaged in foreign trade agencies. The establishment of the Foreign Trade Bureau, The free market era of private foreign trade merchants was ended through the "licensing system". "Only government companies have licenses, and private companies either withdraw from the market, or they are affiliated with state-owned enterprises and entrusted with import and export." "By the 1950s In the mid-term, the foreign trade at Guangzhou Port has actually completely transformed from a variety of economic sectors to an economy owned by the whole people, and the professional import and export companies under the Ministry of Foreign Trade in Guangzhou have been able to control all import and export goods, and the government can control foreign trade profits to the maximum."

The government established two important trade agency companies in Hong Kong: China Resources Company and No. 5 Branch. China Resources was mainly responsible for the export of miscellaneous goods, silk and some light industrial products, and No. 5 Branch was responsible for food, tea and other local products.Zhang Ping, who has served as the general manager of China Resources Corporation for a long time, recalled: "China Resources Corporation is an organization of the Communist Party of China engaged in economic and trade work in Hong Kong." That is to say, this organization is a company run by our party." "In order to break the trade 'embargo', China Resources established a secret transportation company in 1951, named 'Xinglonghang'. Xinglonghang has four employees, and its task is to organize transportation in Hong Kong. The carrier company and personnel secretly transported our materials to Macau Nam Kwong Company, and then Nam Kwong Company was responsible for transporting the materials to the mainland through Gongbei, and also sold the products in the mainland through the same channel.”

The first priority of these state-owned companies is to generate foreign exchange and exchange exports for imports. "The government can even allow the company to have floating losses within a certain range regardless of the cost." Lu Jianxing said, "Every quarter, China Resources has to prepare a revenue and expenditure statement. If there is too much excess, the government is responsible for balancing the accounts. In fact, because of this Even if there is no 'licensing system', in such a state of non-free competition, it is difficult for the time-honored trade brands in Guangzhou and Hong Kong to maintain their business. Their only option is to cooperate with the government , of course, profits are not as good as before. And state-owned companies can take advantage of their long-term personal relationships in trade.” “There are also some businessmen who choose to quit. I went to Hong Kong once, and a Hong Kong businessman complained to me, ‘No If you do it, you will be working for China Resources.”

The smooth flow of exports is only one aspect of Guangdong's role as a trade channel, and its premise is that the rulers need to be able to organize the supply of goods in the city very efficiently and determine the price.From this perspective, Guangzhou’s “socialist transformation” of industry and commerce is more important to the country than other cities.