Chapter 43 Forty-two, sell out the cities

Zhucheng's state-owned enterprise reform in 1994 made this small town a landmark that year and for a period of time thereafter.Zhucheng City is located in the southeast corner of Shandong Province, with a total area of ​​2183 square kilometers, jurisdiction over 10 townships, 3 streets, and 1 provincial economic development zone, with a population of 1.07 million.The city is famous for its long history and many historical and cultural celebrities, such as Gongye Chang and Liu Yong.But in 1994, a bold mayor in Zhucheng adopted the method of selling property rights to reform state-owned enterprises, which shocked China, which was still debating the direction of state-owned enterprise reform at that time.

In 1992, Chen Guang was 36 years old.A year ago, he had just been transferred from Weifang Youth League Party Committee Secretary to Zhucheng City Mayor.A pair of gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of the nose made the new mayor appear refined and refined, but people soon discovered that this slightly fat, elegant-looking young mayor had a very fashionable style of work, and quite a Although there are thousands of people, I have the momentum to go. No one remembers the aura of Chen Guang when he was in power in Zhucheng, but from what Chen Guang did in other areas afterwards, we can get a glimpse of the new mayor's behavior style:

In June 1997, Chen Guang was transferred from Zhucheng to Heze as the deputy secretary of the prefectural committee and the deputy commissioner of the administrative office (he was appointed commissioner half a year later).A report said that on that day, Chen Guang suddenly made an astonishing move on the embankment of the Yellow River. He "kneeled on his knees, kowtowed three times to the Yellow River... and shouted loudly: "Yellow River ! Mother! Your son has come to you!" There is also a scene of Chen Guang working at the demolition site.A building where cadres of market value agencies lived was included in the scope of demolition, but no one dared to issue demolition orders to the officials who lived there.Chen Guang, who heard about this incident, invited reporters and videographers from Heze City TV Station to the front of the building, and said to the camera lens, "The machine gun is ready today. Let me see who of you hit the muzzle of the gun." Edit it and play it directly on the TV station.

At that time, Chen Guang had already become a man of great reform because of his actions in Zhucheng.And 5 years ago, he was just a new mayor, and we have no way of finding out what he did back then, because unlike in the future, as a man of influence, his every move was observed under the magnifying glass of the media.We can only imagine the intensity and pride of Chen Guang that day.These moves pushed both Zhucheng and Chen Guang into a storm of fierce controversy. The storm can be summed up in a few words, especially in today's eyes. "Zhucheng Enterprise Reform Exploration" published in 1996 said: "Since 1992, Zhucheng City has carried out enterprise system reforms in the form of joint-stock and joint-stock cooperative systems. Compared with previous enterprise reforms, this reform has a significant impact on The property rights of public-owned enterprises have been reformed and restructured on a large scale, which has greatly shaken the reform of small and medium-sized enterprises in Zhucheng and even the whole country."

that is it.But things that have become common sense from today's point of view have always triggered countless debates and rebuttals in China, and people on both sides of the debate may have their futures ruined or their reputations ruined because of the success or failure of this debate.For example, the discussion on the standard of truth in 1976, or the countless discussions on whether prices should be liberalized or whether the market should be trusted in economic reforms. "Zhucheng Enterprise Reform Exploration" describes the background of this wave of state-owned enterprise reform that took place in Zhucheng in 1992. In March 1992, the Leading Group for Assets and Assets Verification of the State Council issued documents such as the "Overall Plan for Assets and Assets Verification", "Methods for Assets and Assets Verification" and "Regulations for the Implementation of Asset Value Revaluation for Assets and Assets Verification" and other documents, and required the nationwide The purpose of the asset verification work is to find out the "property" of state-owned assets, so as to solve the problems of "running, leaking, leakage" of state-owned assets and idle and waste of assets.At that time, what everyone cared about was still how to avoid the loss of state-owned assets and how to use state-owned assets efficiently.

So, two months later, in accordance with the requirements of the State Council, Zhucheng liquidated the assets of 150 independent accounting enterprises under the jurisdiction of the city, and carried out asset evaluation on some enterprises. "The results stunned the leaders of Zhucheng."They found: First, the vast majority of enterprises have high debt ratios and few net assets. Many enterprises are even insolvent. Recently, the debts of municipal state-owned reformed enterprises alone have reached 877 million yuan, and the debt ratio of enterprises in the city has reached about 85%.A considerable number of enterprises have become shell enterprises without assets.

Second, state-owned assets leaked and leaked day after day, and the loss was serious.From the asset evaluation of 32 municipal enterprises alone, the amount of open and hidden losses reached 115.64 million yuan, accounting for 63.7% of state-owned assets (excluding the loss of land); bad debts and bad debts that enterprises could not recover amounted to 1,000 yuan. ten thousand yuan. Third, the loss area is large and the loss amount is staggering. The accounting results in April 1992 showed that among the 150 municipal enterprises, 103 had obvious and hidden losses, with a loss amounting to 147 million yuan, which was equivalent to the fiscal revenue of the city for one and a half years at that time.

The fourth point is the low income level of employees. This is the inevitable result of the loss of enterprises. The annual income of employees is only 2,097 yuan, and the average monthly income of employees in some enterprises is only 100 yuan. In July 1992, Jiang Zemin, then China's top leader, visited Zhucheng. At a symposium with Zhucheng leaders, he revisited the predicament that state-owned enterprises in China were facing at that time. "1/3 hidden losses, 1/3 open losses, Only 1/3 of them actually make money." "I have worked for so many years and traveled to many countries. I have seen enterprises in capitalist countries lose money, and some have gone bankrupt. I have never seen a country with such a loss as ours. Terrible...the reform of state-owned enterprises is related to the life and death of the party and the country."

A later report said, "Hearing this, Chen Guang secretly made up his mind that he should make a serious move on the property rights system. He is so humble that he dare not forget to worry about the country."——The mayor and his colleagues have already It is determined that the dilemma of state-owned enterprise reform lies in the issue of property rights. Later, Zhucheng always used the 14th National Congress held in October 1992 as the theoretical basis for its own reforms.Journalist and writer Ling Zhijun later described: "In November, the report of the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of China was published, and the situation suddenly changed. In the first week, the 28th meeting of the Standing Committee of the Seventh National People's Congress decided to speed up the establishment of a legal system for a socialist market economy; In just two weeks before and after, dozens of ministries and commissions of the central government were all scrambling to clean up the old guidelines and put forward new measures to adapt to the new road; It finally broke the long silence, and if you don't make a sound, you're done, and if you make a sound, there will be no room. Its editorial said: "Market economy is the only way to revitalize China." On the same day, Chen Jinhua, director of the National Economic System Reform Commission, published an article announcing that the original Some economic systems are not suitable for socialized large-scale production. It is a new strategic decision to take the new system of socialist market economy as the goal of reform. The big situation has finally become clear. China seems to have unanimously given the green light for the "market economy". Everyone wants to get ahead, lest they fall behind and lose their position." Ling Zhijun said that China has finally found its own path.What Chen Guang and his colleagues paid attention to was a few words Jiang Zemin said in the report of the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of China: "Some small state-owned enterprises can be leased or sold to collectives or individuals for operation"; Separation and transformation of enterprise operating mechanisms and accumulation of social funds...We must actively pilot, sum up experience, and promptly formulate and implement relevant laws and regulations to make it develop orderly and healthy."This became the Shangfang sword for Zhucheng's experiment, although it did not fend off all the rumors and gossips for Chen Guang and Zhucheng.Property rights, the untouchable thing, the protection around it is finally beginning to loosen.

Therefore, “the reform of enterprise property rights in Zhucheng City began in October 1992 and ended in July 1994. Workers carried out property right reform and asset reorganization of 272 industrial and commercial enterprises above townships and townships in the city” ("Zhucheng Enterprise Reform Exploration").Later reports said that more than 90% of the enterprises were reformed according to the "shareholding cooperative system", that is, the net assets of the enterprise were sold to internal employees. After such reforms, several typical enterprises have undergone drastic changes very quickly. The situation is like a chemical experiment in a laboratory. After adding another chemical substance, a chemical substance has undergone a qualitative change. .For example, Zhucheng Insulation Material Factory adopted the method of internal employee shareholding to convert 1.8 million state-owned assets (the net assets of the factory) into 1,800 shares, which were subscribed by employees voluntarily and transformed into Star Insulation Material Co., Ltd.As a result, fixed assets increased by 3.6 times in two years, output value increased by 2.5 times in two years, profits and taxes increased by 5.7 times in two years, and per capita income increased by 8 times in two years.Others such as Zhucheng Hongda Mold Co., Ltd., Zhucheng Wujinjiaodian Chemical Company, which was transformed from Zhucheng Mold Factory, and Zhucheng Chaoran Food Machinery Co., Ltd., which was transformed from Zhucheng Food Machinery Factory, have similar effects.

However, this move has caused an uproar in mainland China, which has just realized that "the market economy is the only way to revitalize China".In a later interview with the media, Chen Guang recalled that in 1994, "a Hong Kong newspaper reported that there was a Chen Selling in Jiang Qing's hometown. There were also debates in the theoretical circles." "Some senior officials and well-known scholars wrote articles or wrote letters to the central government, pointing out that Zhucheng's reform is privatization, resulting in the loss of state-owned assets, and taking the road of capitalism," said another report on Chen Guang. As a result, "the central bank sent 12 people to check the accounts, and there were no bad or bad debts. Then the central government sent a joint investigation team, a total of 21 people, involving 9 ministries and commissions, and investigated for 8 days and 8 nights. Later, the investigation report was announced in Weifang. At that time, we were like It’s like listening to the verdict. The final conclusion is that the direction is correct, the measures are powerful, and the effect is remarkable.” “(At that time) I didn’t think so much. To be honest, I was relatively young at that time, and I underestimated the complexity. I just thought, if the company is alive and the employees are working, no one can tell what's wrong." Chen Guang recalled the scene at that time. What finally calmed down Chen Guang's heart was the words of Zhu Rongji, then Premier of the State Council.Zhucheng's reforms also attracted Zhu Rongji's attention. On March 20, 1996, Zhu Rongji, Wu Jinglian and other central joint investigation team composed of 21 members from 9 ministries and commissions of the State Council came to Zhucheng. They selected five enterprises for detailed inspection and wrote a 74-page inspection report. Four days later, on the morning of March 24, when the central investigation team held a meeting with cadres at the provincial, prefectural, municipal, and bureau levels in Shandong, Zhu Rongji expressed his full support for Zhucheng's reform: "The so-called experience of Zhucheng is that the Zhucheng Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government Under the leadership of Shandong Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government and Weifang Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government, various forms of reform have been adopted to deepen the reform of enterprises, and small state-owned enterprises have been well developed, revitalized, and benefited. If this is the case across the country, it will be great. Among the various forms of enterprises in Zhucheng City, one form is to sell the assets of the state-owned enterprise to the employees inside the enterprise and make it into a joint-stock cooperative system. This form also revitalizes the enterprise, but there are different opinions. I I also agree not to raise it too high, you can take a look. But there is one thing, you don’t care whether it is a joint-stock system or a joint-stock cooperative system, you don’t care whether it is public or private, as long as it can revitalize the enterprise, it is a good way. Don’t say Selling the enterprise to our employees means selling it to foreign capitalists, and the capitalists helped us make the enterprise a success, and I am also thankful.”