Chapter 4 1979 A New Turn and a Shining Star

In 1979, a young Hong Kong scholar who studied institutional economics at the University of Chicago traveled to Guangzhou. He is a person who is very good at finding the truth in the details.In the hotel where he was staying, he saw two female workers sweeping leaves on the ground of hundreds of square feet every day. This seemed to be their full-time job; plaster, another puts the plaster into the hole, and a third points to the hole; breakfast is only served for an hour, but after half an hour, there is no one working, more than 20 young waitresses Gather in a corner of the restaurant and chat casually.A local engineer claimed that he knew about the procedures for sending Chinese students to study in the United States, but the information he provided was completely inconsistent with the facts; even senior officials in Guangzhou were not clear about the difference between visas and passports; Businessmen who conduct business negotiations are "utterly ignorant", making all negotiations in vain; what's more, Chinese officials have various titles, and foreigners have to distinguish their official ranks based on the order of attendance of cadres.

Therefore, the young scholar concluded: "No matter which way China's modernization takes, it will encounter a huge obstacle. Measured by the standards of other countries, there are not many 45-year-olds in China. The following are well-educated people. The result is a group of undisciplined working people and ignorant officials. The obstacles created in this respect will make the problem of foreign exchange of foreign capital that is commonly said to be far more serious." In January 1979, 56-year-old Hong Kong businessman Huo Yingdong started contacting the Guangzhou provincial government. He proposed to build a five-star hotel in Guangzhou—the White Swan Hotel. He invested 13.5 million US dollars, and the White Swan Hotel borrowed 3631 from the bank. million US dollars, and the cooperation period is 15 years (later extended for 5 years). This is the first high-end hotel jointly established by Sino-foreign joint venture after the founding of the People's Republic of China, and it is also the first five-star hotel.Huo Yingdong, who later became vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, recalled: "At that time, when investing in the Mainland, I was afraid of a sudden change in policy. That year, a picture showing the festival scene of ethnic minorities appeared at the Capital Airport [the large-scale mural "Splashing Water" when the new Beijing Airport was completed. Festival - A Praise to Life, the author is the painter Yuan Yunsheng], one of the girls is naked, which has caused a lot of controversy in China. Every time I go to Beijing, I have to check whether this painting is still there. Now, my heart is more at ease."

When Huo Yingdong built a hotel, the first thing he faced was the shortage of materials caused by the planning system. "A large hotel needs nearly 100,000 kinds of decoration materials and supplies. At that time, there was almost nothing in the mainland. They didn't even produce bathtub corks, so they had to use hot water bottles. What’s more, if you import anything, you have to go to a dozen departments to get a bunch of red stamps.”Later, Huo Yingdong, who was tortured to "take off his human form", finally came up with a trick. He first distributed the opening invitations to people in Beijing, Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau, and fixed the opening date firmly. This invitation was sent to the competent departments of various links to urge the formalities, and this trick actually took effect, and the progress of the project was greatly accelerated. In February 1983, the White Swan Hotel officially opened, and more than 10,000 people poured into the hotel that day.

Compared with Huo Yingdong, the Frenchman Pierre Cardin seems to be more popular. He came to China in March. He is the first international fashion master to come here. This Frenchman with dual qualities of artist and businessman led 12 fashion models to hold a fashion show in Beijing National Culture Palace. At that time in China, there was still a "blue ocean" surging on the streets, and the popular clothes at that time were fat cuffs and greasy cotton coats.However, it is not difficult for careful people to find that the pretty and beautiful girls have already put on pink gauze scarves or exposed calico inner jackets at the hem of gray-blue smocks.There is a photo taken by an Associated Press reporter that remains to this day: Pierre Cardin is wearing a black coat and walking on the streets of Beijing with his hands in his pockets. He looked curiously at this strange-looking foreigner. His hat and double-breasted padded jacket formed a sharp contrast with Pierre Cardin.

As awkward as it is, the two worlds are finally coming together.Tickets to the fashion show are strictly controlled, and only officials and technicians from the foreign trade and fashion industries can participate in "internal observation".On a temporary "T" stage set up by the National Cultural Palace in Beijing, the typhoon of eight French models and four Japanese models is smooth and natural, showing a kind of randomness. .The male and female models shuttled back and forth, eyeing each other, hooking shoulders and shoulders, showing the intimacy that the Chinese considered quite immodest at the time.

In the dressing room backstage, another interesting thing happened.The careful Chinese tore a large tarpaulin and divided the room into two parts. The reason was that there were male and female models, and the performance costumes were close-fitting, so it was inconvenient for men and women to mix.But Pierre Cardin stubbornly wanted to remove the tarpaulin, "We have always had male and female models changing clothes in one room, which is not inconvenient. As a fashion designer, you must understand my body like a surgeon. The figure of the model. I’m sorry, please remove the tarpaulin, this is the job.” The Chinese reception staff looked at each other in blank dismay, and finally followed the master’s advice, but this detail must not be leaked as a “discipline”.

As a romantic art master, Pierre Cardin is very satisfied with the shock waves he set off in mainland China - from this year to 1994, the French dressmaker came to China 20 times.For the next 20 years, he has been extremely grateful for that performance.Because for a long time, "Pierre Cardin" was the most famous foreign clothing brand in the minds of Chinese consumers, and it once became synonymous with high-end clothing and luxury consumption. The "preconceived" brand effect has been the most extreme embodiment in it. For China, 1979 was a year of recovery of economic cells, and various modern economic elements began to be activated and reused one by one.

Beijing established the State Administration of Foreign Exchange to comprehensively manage RMB and foreign exchange transactions; in March, the China Enterprise Management Association was established, and China Central Television established an advertising department. After 20 years, it will become the most powerful advertising broadcaster in China. On May 1, the Hepingmen branch of Beijing Roast Duck Restaurant opened. It has a construction area of ​​15,000 square meters, a restaurant area of ​​nearly 4,000 square meters, and more than 40 banquet halls of various specifications. The whole store can accommodate more than 2,000 people. Guests dine at the same time, it is the largest roast duck restaurant in the world.The freshest thing is that this restaurant has restored the golden signboard of "Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant". Quanjude, which opened in the third year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1864), is the most famous roast duck restaurant in Beijing. All time-honored brands have been abolished as the "Four Olds". Now, its comeback clearly conveys a signal: all time-honored brands can be revived.

In Shanghai, some veteran business people and some foreign citizens raised funds from the private sector to create an enterprise called "Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Office Patriotic Construction Company", which was later considered to be the first private enterprise in China.The first advertising company also appeared in this city with a century-old commercial tradition. On March 15th, Wen Wei Po published the first advertisement for a foreign brand. Biao also aired the first TV commercial on Shanghai TV station. Due to time and operational reasons, this commercial was even narrated in English with Chinese subtitles, although there were not many people in China who knew English at that time. , But within 3 days, more than 700 consumers went to shopping malls in Huangpu District to inquire about watches of this brand.

In Guangzhou and other places, some service companies have emerged, the tourism industry has also begun to take off, and newspapers have begun to discuss whether hotels can also be managed as enterprises.The national economy began to transform to light industry, and the State Council issued a document to encourage the development of light industry, giving moderate preference in six aspects including taxation and recruitment.In Shanghai, a steel factory transferred its factory building to a Chinese clothing company. This transfer of property rights between state-owned enterprises was a very sensational news at the time.

Discussions about whether the insurance industry should be restored have also been put on the agenda. It is unbelievable that from 1959 to 1979, all insurance businesses in China were suspended, and enterprises and households were considered not to need this kind of "capital". tools of exploitation".In 1980, the People's Insurance Company of China resumed its establishment, and then entered a six-year monopoly period. The second insurance license was issued in 1986, and it took another six years for foreign insurance companies to be allowed to enter.The step-by-step opening-up progress of the insurance industry is almost the epitome of all monopoly industries in China. Internationally, some people are already thinking about what the rise of China's economy means to the world. While "Time" and "Newsweek" were still clamoring for opening the door to China, "The Economist", which has always been rigorous and quiet, was already thinking about deeper issues.It raises a very forward-looking question: Will the rise of China pose a fatal impact on the existing international market?You know, the problem didn't really become a "problem" until 20 years later.Judging from the available information, The Economist is the first media to raise this question. Based on this alone, it can be called a true prophet. "How much can China export?" published on March 3, 1979. "In the article, "The Economist" analyzed, "As a continental country similar to the United States and the Soviet Union, China's long-term export growth rate may be maintained at 4%-5%, which is enough to make China a medium-sized country around 1990. China is a trading country. What China has is land, energy, and labor, but what it lacks now is the experience and awareness of a market economy.” "The Economist" boldly predicted that although in the short term, China needs a large amount of imports, which will stimulate the production of industrialized countries, but in the long run, "the flood of Chinese exports will become inevitable." The author says in the article: "Could China's export growth be faster? In terms of crude oil, the most important factor restraining expansion is supply, but they may be quite strong for a while. Profits depend on processing exports. Currently, South Korea's per capita export volume is that of mainland China 25 times, while China's Hong Kong and Taiwan regions are 100 times that of the mainland. China has begun to market in some simple manufacturing fields, such as textiles, footwear, jewelry, toys and travel appliances, etc. Electronics and light machinery industries will soon will follow. "One of the barriers to China's lack of market knowledge is the lack of experience with what kind of product, design and quality planning the market needs. One way is to copy the experience of other countries, and in fact China has already begun to do this. It calls it the 'three Let's make up for it'. "China provides land, energy, labor and raw materials, while foreign countries provide equipment, original technology, management and market experience (for example, overseas Chinese have established factories in mainland China and exported 200 buses to Hong Kong, China a year). Ultimately, The largest export region is Taiwan, China. "Another big hurdle is trade protectionism. The Americans are already trying to negotiate 'market order arrangements' with China on textiles. However, China is in a position of extreme bargaining power. It will soon become the new profit margin. Large suppliers, but also new and attractive markets. In the near future, the flood of Chinese exports will become inevitable. China's exports will quadruple by 1990 compared to Japan's exports today (equivalent to more than twice the combined export volume of South Korea and Taiwan China today). 10 years of high-speed growth, coupled with the raw materials and crude oil it needs, will mean that China will begin to be regarded as the same The UK is a comparable middle trading nation today. The West should try to live with that reality." This is the most farsighted report on China's economic recovery by Western countries that year. The busy Deng Xiaoping searched the world for models to revitalize Chinese enterprises. In January, he visited the United States as originally arranged.After Deng Xiaoping's visit to the United States, he arrived in Tokyo on February 7 and held talks with his old friend Masaoyo Ohira at the Japanese Prime Minister's residence. When visiting the United States, Deng Xiaoping's most important task was political.At the governor's mansion in Georgia, he dined with 16 governors who came to visit him.Deng Xiaoping took the trouble to introduce China's political and economic policies towards opening up, hoping that the normal diplomatic relations between China and the United States would be recognized by the American people.But when he went to Japan, he had more intentions of learning. Here we may briefly recall the world of 1979.It is no exaggeration to say that it was an uneven year. In April, Pakistani President Bhutto was executed; Ugandan dictator Amin was overthrown and exiled abroad. In May, 244 people died in a major air crash in the United States. In August, Khomeini ruled Iran. In order to retaliate against the United States for supporting the old Shah of Iran, Khomeini announced an oil embargo, and the price of oil rose from US$15 to US$35 per barrel, thus causing the second oil crisis. In September, Philippine President Marcos was arrested on charges of corruption and spreading rumors. In October, South Korean President Park Chung-hee was shot dead. In November, a coup took place in Bolivia. In December, the Soviet Union sent troops to Afghanistan, and the United Nations announced economic sanctions against Iran.These events filled the last year of the 1970s with a nervous tension. Compared with these turbulent political events, in the field of business, there is only one topic in the world, and that is the rise of Japan.This country that was defeated in World War II has achieved an incredible economic miracle with its stubborn national character and realistic company growth strategy. General Douglas MacArthur, Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces, who came to Japan from the Philippines in 1945, refused to go to the palace to meet with Emperor Hirohito, but asked the latter to greet him at the U.S. embassy, ​​smoking a pipe to a reporter from the Chicago Tribune Said, "Japan has become a fourth-rate country, and it is impossible to make a comeback and become a world power." In 1955, China's national income accounted for 6.5% of the world's, while Japan's only 2.5%. By 1960, Japan had already Start to keep pace with China. The symbolic event of Japan's revival occurred in March 1970. At that time, the World Expo was held in Osaka. The Japanese government allocated 2 billion U.S. dollars to hold this unprecedented commodity fair. 77 countries flocked to it. One of the people, Herman Conn, first predicted in the "Chicago Tribune" that MacArthur made a speech 25 years ago: "Japan has entered the ranks of the world's strongest economy, and the 21st century will be Japan's century." Throughout the 1970s , Japan is the fastest growing country in the world. In July 1979, Harvard University professor Ezra F. Vogel published his famous book "Japan, First Century", which made the world continue to talk about Japan throughout the 1980s.In the international market, Japanese products—from home appliances, watches, cameras, automobiles to semiconductors—are almost all the rage and unrivaled in the world.The management experience of Japanese companies has become a model for global entrepreneurs and politicians to learn from. Larry Ellison, an American who later founded the famous Oracle Corporation, often mentioned what he heard when he listened to the speeches of Japanese entrepreneurs in 1979. In a sentence, the Japanese said: "In Japan, we believe that less than 100% market share is not enough. We believe that it is not enough for me to succeed, and everyone else must fail. We must beat our competitors." Leadership Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida, who led the reconstruction of Japan's economy after the war, publicized in "A Hundred Years of Stirring History", "Japan is a nation full of adventurous spirit. Similar to this, Japanese entrepreneurs also have the domineering spirit of "the world is the most respected, who can give me nothing". This temperament has caused a huge impact on the European and American business ethics based on the Protestant tradition and European chivalry, and lacks collaboration. Whether the concept of global competition with a sense of win-win and win-win situation is the cause of the isolation of Japanese companies and the sluggish growth for more than ten years has not yet reached a consensus. In Singapore, the proud Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew asked the government, enterprises and schools to learn Japanese management and introduce Japanese enterprise management system.For example, the government organizes Japanese-style management seminars, and invites senior executives from well-known Japanese companies to come to Singapore to speak out. University management professors must participate, take notes, and use it as part of the teaching materials. In the newly awakened China, Deng Xiaoping also regarded Japan as the first object of study.Wang Xiaoxian, then deputy director of the Japanese Department of the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, recalled: "Xiaoping's most important task in Japan this time is to learn from Japan, besides exchanging the ratification of the treaty. I remember that he was in Panasonic Electric Company Mr. Konosuke Matsushita said that the four modernizations cannot be achieved without the electronics industry, so I want to see your factory, and I hope you can mobilize the Japanese electronics industry to invest and build factories in China. We want to learn from you. " A few months later, on June 29, Konosuke Matsushita, who passed away in 1989, was the first business idol of Chinese entrepreneurs.He started as an apprentice in a bicycle shop and built a business empire for decades. Such a legend can inspire Chinese entrepreneurs who also came from humble beginnings.In addition, Panasonic put forward many basic business concepts, such as focusing on quality, cultivating talents, establishing sales network, providing services to customers, etc., which have become the first textbooks for Chinese entrepreneurs.Haier's Zhang Ruimin recalled: "In the early 1980s, the only things I could find in China were the thick books of Konosuke Matsushita, so I used Panasonic's things for reference in terms of quality management methods." When Huawei's Ren Zhengfei visited Panasonic See, "Whether it's an office, a conference room, or the wall of the passage, you can see a sticker everywhere. On the painting is a giant ship that is about to hit an iceberg. You are the only one who owns the ship.’ Its sense of crisis can be seen.” Ren therefore wrote an article "Spring in the North Country": "In Huawei, is our winter awareness so strong? Is it passed on to the grassroots? Is everyone taking action? Are you ready?" Deng Xiaoping visited China at the invitation of Deng Xiaoping. When Deng Xiaoping met him, he asked him many times about strengthening enterprise management and the development of the electronic industry. It is not enough to follow others in China's modernization. Deng Xiaoping's humble attitude undoubtedly directly aroused the enthusiasm of Japanese companies to invest in China.In China's first round of foreign investment and opening-up, Japanese companies showed the strongest desire to expand, and they took the lead one after another, which also made Japanese products popular in China throughout the 1980s.In 1979, various cooperation and joint venture news about Japanese companies emerged one after another: Shanghai Jinxing TV Factory introduced color TV production line from Hitachi; Changhong introduced black and white TV production line from Panasonic; Tianjin Computer Center introduced the first computer from Fujitsu Fujitsu F160; Sanyo established the "Sanyo Electric Trading Co., Ltd. Beijing Office" in Beijing.Akio Morita, one of the founders of Sony, also visited China. Almost at the same time, Sony invented the world's first portable music system - TPS-L2 "Walkman", which became the most popular music player in the 20th century. One of the electronic products, Japanese engineers have since demonstrated their strong technical development capabilities.In an interview with the "Yomiuri Shimbun", he believed that any product for China should be "simple, practical and cheap."This is the first time that Japanese entrepreneurs have expressed their opinion on their China market strategy. Compared with the Japanese, American companies are slower to move.In addition to Coca-Cola, American Express and Eastman also set up representative offices in Beijing. IBM decided to return to this eastern country that it had left for more than 70 years.In the autumn of this year, a heavy truck loaded with a "monster" slowly drove into the Shenyang Blower Factory. The "big guy" on the truck that made the workers very curious was the System/360 from IBM.Apart from the above-mentioned companies, large companies such as Motorola did not turn their eyes to China until 1987.European companies, on the other hand, are too busy resisting the wave of Japanese products to take care of the East.In the face of Japan's economic challenges, President Carter of the United States proposed in 1979 "to adopt independent policies to improve the country's competitiveness and boost the spirit of enterprise", and for the first time raised the intellectual property strategy to the level of national strategy.Since then, using long-term accumulated scientific and technological achievements to consolidate and strengthen intellectual property advantages has become a national strategy for the United States to maintain its economic hegemony, and its results will begin to fully manifest in 10 years. In 1979, the most dramatic year, the most famous entrepreneur in China was a fictitious character named Qiao Guangpu. Tianjin writer Jiang Zilong's novella "The Story of Qiao Factory Manager's Inauguration" was published in the July 1979 issue of "People's Literature".This is an unremarkable but mysterious title of a novel. It seems to herald the beginning of a certain kind, the emergence of a certain force of discovery, and the emergence of a certain new era.In the following years, people used to use "Director Qiao" to describe those who made reforms. Director Qiao's story seems to come from life itself.A heavy-duty electrical machinery factory had not completed its production tasks for two and a half years. A man named Qiao Guangpu broke the silence and offered himself.This military order sounds a bit inexplicable now, but at the time it was the most serious punishment for a person. After Qiao took office, his deputy was the former head of the rebel faction in the factory. During the "Cultural Revolution" period, he criticized Qiao—"political symbolization" of the opposite of the reform was the most popular method at that time, so Their contradictions arose from the very beginning.The situation in this factory is of course very bad. The workers are not motivated, and there are many conflicts among the cadres. The factory manager Qiao began to "set fire" soon. We will deploy elite soldiers and strong generals, and those who fail the assessment will be formed into a service brigade to replace migrant workers in infrastructure construction and transportation.Director Qiao also went on a business trip to "engage in diplomacy" to solve the problems of raw materials, fuel and cooperation between various related households.His actions naturally offended many people, so complaints, rebellions, and slanderous incidents happened one after another. The factory manager Qiao was very brave, and he shouted: "I am not afraid of this. Gotta do it!" This is obviously a novel that cannot be circulated for a long time. It is too closely related to the times and has the characteristics of "reform model drama". However, it was really a sensation at the time.From Director Qiao, people saw a business leader who dared to be responsible for the company, dared to shoulder the burden, and dared to offend others, and saw the new scene that may appear after the "pretend to work" and the chaotic situation was suddenly broken. . "It must be changed, and it really won't work if I don't change it." This is the emotion of countless people after reading "The Story of Director Qiao's Appointment". It once so directly inspired a generation of people to change their own destiny. In real life, the person most like Director Qiao is Zhou Guanwu of the Capital Iron and Steel Company. We can even say that Zhou Guanwu looks more like a character in a reform novel than Director Qiao.He was a soldier. He was a deputy chief of staff of the Guixi Military Sub-division and turned to build Shougang (originally called Shijingshan Iron and Steel Factory). He spent most of his life in this factory. In 1979, when he was nearly 60, he caught up with a a huge change.He has a dignified appearance, a loud voice, and likes to comb a shiny back hair. He has a resolute and flamboyant personality, and he is good at doing amazing things.One year, Shougang Factory celebrated with a sculpture of a steel eagle at the gate of the factory—this was a common hobby of Chinese enterprises at that time. Flying an eagle with wings spread at the gate of the factory would continue until the mid-1990s.Zhou Guanwu asked: "What is the largest eagle sculpture in Beijing?" Answer: "2 meters." Then asked, "What about the whole country?" Answer: "6 meters." Zhou said, "Okay then, we A 12-meter one." This 12-meter super eagle has been squatting at the east gate of Shougang. At the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the previous year, the central government believed that: "A serious shortcoming of my country's economic management system is that power is too concentrated, and the leadership should be boldly decentralized, so that local governments and industrial and agricultural enterprises can be guided by the unified national plan. There will be more autonomy in operation and management.” It is based on this consensus that the expansion of corporate autonomy has become the starting point for the reform of state-owned enterprises. Vigorous main line of reform. In 1979, the State Council announced that eight large state-owned enterprises, including the Capital Iron and Steel Company, Tianjin Bicycle Factory, and Shanghai Diesel Engine Factory, took the lead in experimenting with expanding corporate autonomy. In July, 5 documents including expanding the autonomy of state-owned industrial enterprises in operation and management, implementing profit retention, introducing fixed asset tax, increasing the depreciation rate and improving the method of using depreciation fees, and implementing full credit for working capital were issued together. The reform of enterprises such as Shougang The move became a national focus.History made Zhou Guanwu suddenly stand under the spotlight of the times when he was nearly 60 years old. Zhou Guanwu is the kind of person who becomes more excited when the stage is bigger. After becoming a "pilot", he quickly proposed a refreshing management method - "three hundred percent": every employee must implement the rules 100% System, violations of rules and regulations must be 100% registered and reported; regardless of whether losses are caused, 100% of all bonuses for the month will be deducted from violators.This management method was indeed eye-catching and shocking in the Chinese business world with lax discipline and no motivation at that time.An example that can be referred to is that in 1984, Zhang Ruimin was appointed to lead Haier, which later became the most famous enterprise in China. The first factory regulation he issued was that it was not allowed to defecate anywhere in the factory area.The production order of Shougang was quickly restored, and the enthusiasm of the workers was stimulated, so the production capacity increased year by year, and the reform seemed to be an overnight success.In the first three years after the reform, Shougang realized an average annual growth rate of 45% in profits, and an average annual growth rate of 34% in profits turned over to the state, which was 2.4 times the average annual profit growth rate of global steel companies at that time.Shougang’s performance is enough to give the whole country the illusion that the chronic problems of state-owned enterprises lie in internal management disorder and lack of autonomy. As long as these two problems are solved, they can be completely transformed without changing property rights. This illusion Will continue until 1997. Come back and talk about the reform of Zhou Guanwu.The decentralization of autonomy means the adjustment of the authority relationship between Shougang and the superior management department. Zhou Guanwu is no longer a factory director who manages 200,000 people, but only has the power to sign the renovation of a toilet. He wants to control his own destiny.This directly touches on the power adjustment between state-owned enterprise managers and asset owners, which is one of the important propositions of Chinese enterprise reform.In fact, from the first day of the reform, this kind of power adjustment has continued in an ambiguous and entangled situation. The game is going on sharply within the vested interest groups, and there is no clear premise of property rights. Under it, it will be lingering forever, without beginning or end.Shougang is not the first case. After the implementation of autonomy, what Zhou Guanwu has been doing is trying to sort out the relationship between the enterprise and the state.First of all, he proposed the contracting system, "the base of the contract is dead, it is guaranteed to be turned over, the excess of the contract is retained, and the debt is self-responsible".Around 1979, its advanced nature was unquestionable, but the problem it solved was also so obvious, that is, in the last four words - "Your income is at your own risk".When an enterprise really appears to be "underpaying", can its system and functions really be "self-confident"?This problem will not appear in the era of commodity shortage. It is like a sinister foreshadowing buried on the road ahead of the reform of state-owned enterprises, quietly but extremely deadly. In the years after 1979, Zhou Guanwu's reforms, in a word, were constant bargaining with the state.In an era of extreme shortage of commodities, in a monopoly heavy industry, with increasingly strong demand and gradual changes in the internal mechanism of the enterprise, Shougang's profit growth is almost inevitable.As a result, Shougang became richer and richer, Zhou Guanwu's voice became louder and louder, and the relevant departments demanded more and more profits from it. Shougang's profit contracting base was initially 5%, and later rose to 6.2 %, and then rose to 7%.The conflict between the two parties finally intensified in 1986. In December of this year, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Finance issued a notice requiring Shougang to make up 108.99 million yuan in profits.Zhou Guanwu refused to implement it, so the Finance Bureau forcibly deducted 25 million yuan from Shougang's account through the bank.At this time, Zhou Guanwu, who was already a reform figure in the country, immediately wrote to the State Council and Deng Xiaoping, saying in the letter, "If we are asked to pay 100 million yuan, the technical transformation projects, housing and welfare facilities projects under construction can only be stopped immediately. , part of the wages and bonuses that employees have received according to the original contract and linkage method will be refunded, and the wages of employees in December will not be paid.” So far, the writing is quite threatening.A month later, Deng Xiaoping's instructions came down: Shougang's contracting methods will remain unchanged. This section of the public case is described in many reportages as a contest between Zhou Guanwu and the old forces opposing the contract system, but from another perspective, it is a tug-of-war between two different interest groups within the state-owned capital group. fight.Such struggles will occur in almost all state-owned enterprises.We seem to be able to use the "Zhouguanwu model" to describe the fate of the head of a state-owned enterprise: legend in the middle, glory in the middle, and death in old age.Zhou Guanwu has been a model of China's reform for more than ten years, and his glory and glory are like no other. In 1995, Zhou Beifang, the son of Zhou Guanwu and the general manager of Shougang International Corporation, was involved in the case of Chen Xi, the former mayor of Beijing. He was arrested on suspicion of economic crimes and later sentenced to life imprisonment. Zhou Guanwu retired.Since then, the effect of Shougang's reform has gradually faded. The conflict between Shougang and the competent authorities is a common phenomenon that is expanding day by day.When the autonomy of the enterprise is implemented, the suppressed enthusiasm for production will be stimulated in a short period of time, and the output will increase rapidly. But at this time, the contradiction between the planning system and the internal impulse of the enterprise will begin to sharpen.Wang Yuguang, director of the Chongqing Iron and Steel Plant, the first batch of pilots in Sichuan Province earlier than Shougang’s reform, also had the same experience: Around 1979, the output quickly increased, and the newly produced steel filled the factory within two months However, the purchase quota given to Chongqing Steel by the national material reserve department has been used up. On the other hand, units that want steel but have no planned quota have lined up at the gate of Chongqing Steel.Inside and outside the gate of a factory, the inside was about to stop production due to swelling, and the outside was clamoring for goods but could not deliver. The factory manager Wang Yuguang gritted his teeth and opened the door to ship the goods.The planning department soon noticed the "violation" of Chongqing Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. In 1980, the International Planning Commission and the State Economic Commission jointly decided that "the self-sale of steel products violated the relevant state regulations and must be resolutely stopped."The happy days of Chonggang came to an abrupt end after only a few months, and Wang Yuguang broke out in a cold sweat, "Fortunately, we are a pilot enterprise, otherwise I would be out of luck." Led by eight pilot enterprises including Shougang, the reform of state-owned enterprises with the theme of "decentralization" officially kicked off in 1979.Scholars at home and abroad generally divide the reform process of China's state-owned enterprises into three stages.The first stage (1978-1993): Focusing on decentralization and transfer of profits as the main line, the stage of exploring the target model of state-owned enterprise reform.The second stage (1993-2001): clarify the goals of state-owned enterprise reform, and try to explore the stage of establishing a modern enterprise system.The third stage (after 2001): Reform the new system of state-owned assets management, establish and improve the modern property rights system, and make the joint-stock system the main realization form of public ownership. By the end of 1979, there were 4,200 pilot enterprises nationwide.We are about to see how China's huge state-owned enterprise groups will be loosened, broken up, hijacked, favored and dismembered in the next 30 years. They have different trajectories of destiny, but what runs through the whole thing is how the owners of this part of assets—the central government and governments at all levels—do their best to preserve and strengthen them. From the first day of the reform, the game of interests began.First, the game between the state-owned enterprises that have been devolved from power and the government that has controlled them for many years, and then the game between these enterprises relying on the government's policy support and the "accidental" rise of private companies, and later, multinational companies also entered " disrupting the situation” and “grabbing for food”, so the pattern of interests has become more and more complicated. The reform of Chinese enterprises in the past 30 years seems to be messy and disorganized, and the national policies seem to be swaying here and there, and the efficiency is low. But strictly speaking, the interest demands and strategic goals of the reform are very clear, and from the first It hasn't swayed since day one. 国有企业改革的核心命题是什么？30年后，几乎所有学过经济学的人听到这个问题，都会很顺口的背诵出诺贝尔经济学奖获得者科斯在1959年写过的那句斩钉截铁的话：“清楚界定产权是市场交易的前提”。因此，国企改革的核心是产权制度的改革。可是，从1978年开始的中国国有企业变革在很久以后才能意识到这条规律，或者说才逐渐将改革的主轴扳转到这个方向上。在相当长的一段时间里，从决策者、学术界、企业界到普通的公众，大家都认为，国有企业的效率低下是可以靠“内部改造”来解决的。 当北方的周冠五们为了企业自主权在抗争的时候，在南方，另一群人则试图无中生有，创造一个新的经济王国。在邓小平的直接干预下，在高层被讨论了一段时间的“经济特区”悄然走向现实。一个叫袁庚的人走到了前台。 在中国百年企业史中，天字第一号大企业名叫“招商局”，它跟江南制造总局、纺织新局是清政府当年最大的三家国有企业，在晚清的洋务运动中，招商局的地位一时无二，李鸿章曾在《复刘仲良方伯》一信中得意地对人言：“招商局实为开办洋务运动四十年来，最得手文字。”民国及新中国后，招商局虽然职能多重变幻，已不复当日显赫，但是这个招牌却不可思议地保存了下来。到1979年，招商局的第二十九任董事长叫做袁庚。 招商局当时在编制上隶属交通部，担任了交通部外事局副局长的袁庚监管这个历史名声很大、现实权力很小的机构。袁庚身材魁梧、方脸大眼，一派军人气质。他早年随军南下，曾当过东江纵队的情报科长，在1944年盟军登陆中国东南沿海时提供过重要情报，后来参加了解放珠江三角洲的战役。1949年，当上了炮兵团长的袁庚率部解放了深圳，50年代初他随陈赓入越担任胡志明的抗法军事顾问，1955年出任中国驻雅加达总领事，“文化大革命”期间以“国际间谍罪”被关入北京秦城监狱达七年之久。“四人帮”被打倒后，袁庚重回人间，他到招商局不久，即提交了一份大胆的报告。 这份题为《关于充分利用香港招商局问题的请示》，是1979年10月9日以交通部的名义上报中共中央、国务院的，报告第一次提出了“适应国际市场的特点，走出门去搞调查，做买卖”的对外开放建议。数日后，袁庚正式提出了在深圳蛇口筹建蛇口工业开发区的构想，他提出：“选定在临近香港的宝安蛇口公社境内建立工业区。这样既能利用国内的较廉价的土地和劳动力，又便于利用国际的资金、先进技术和原料，把两者现有的有利条件充分利用并结合起来。”12月18日，也就是党的十一届三中全会在北京正式开幕的同时，交通部和广东省同意了袁庚的构想。25天后，1979年1月31日，上午10时，袁庚飞赴北京，在中南海当面向中央领导汇报。袁庚提出要给招商局一块工业用地，“当时我把所有的地图都带去了，说了招商局成立106年到现在几乎什么都没有，现在我希望国家能给我一块地方。”中央领导用笔在地图上一画，就把包括现在的宝安区到华侨城的七八十平方公里的地方都划进去，说：“袁庚，这个都给你。”袁庚吓了一跳，说：“我怎么敢要这么多。”于是，中央领导用红笔在地图上轻轻一勾，笑着对袁庚说：“那就给你这个半岛吧。” 这个半岛，便是日后的蛇口工业区。所谓“蛇口”，顾名思义便是半岛的一个延伸处。袁庚回忆说：“办工业区之前，这里是海上偷渡香港的口子，经常有外逃人员被淹死后的浮尸漂上沙滩，这些荒野陈尸大多数是农村的年轻劳动力。”蛇口工业区的出现，从空想到行动，前后仅三个月，这一决策过程之简捷和快速，在当时的官僚体系内实属罕见。袁庚以一个副局级中层干部的身份直接推进中国第一个开发区的建立，也算得上是际遇奇妙。 蛇口工业区仅方圆2.14平方公里，袁庚却在这个螺丝壳里做出了一个大道场。工业区一经批复，他的第一项工程就是移山填海兴建码头，招商局花了近一年时间建成600米的码头泊位，可停靠5000吨以下的货船。这样，蛇口顿时具备起港运的功能，工业区与香港互通航班客轮，解决了货运交通的瓶颈。 袁庚办工业区，一没有被纳入国家计划，二没有财政拨款，但他却争得了两个权力：一是可以自主审批500万美元以下的工业项目，二是被允许向外资银行举债。于是，他遍走香港，向港商和银行借贷资金，前后两年，招商局借进15亿元，这笔钱被用来平整土地、建设工业基础设施和生活设施，袁庚同时大大简化招商程序，外商到蛇口办公司，从土地、协议到招工，往往个把月便全部搞定。蛇口很快成为中国最开放的“工业区”，企业和人才纷拥而入，两年多时间，蛇口的企业已超过百家，一片海涂沙滩顿时热闹非常。 在1979年的中国，蛇口和袁庚的出现，让铁幕般的计划经济被捅开了一个再也补不回的大洞。在蛇口开发区筹建半年后，深圳特区开始建立。 现在，我们把目光放得更宽广一点。如果说，国有企业的效率低下是一个存在已久的老难题的话，那么，一个更让人胆战心惊的挑战在这年春天逼近到了眼前。 1979年2月，760万上山下乡的知青大军如潮水般地返回他们当年出发的城市，一些小型的骚乱在各地此起彼伏，就业问题顿时成为中国第一个亟待解决的燃眉之急。十年前，由毛泽东发动的知青下乡运动风起云涌，中学生走出校门，打起背包到农村接受贫下中农的再教育，而今还是这些被称做“知青”的人群，经过整整十年上山下乡运动的洗礼，如同一群群从梦中突然醒来的游行者，集体地逃回到城市来。数据显示，除了700多万人，尚有300万人还将在未来两年内陆续返城。他们要吃饭，他们要工作，他们要生存，这是一个精力旺盛、自认为被耽误青春、什么事都干得出来，却又没有什么事情可以让他们干的庞大族群。美国的《新闻周刊》在《邓小平能救中国吗？》一文中提问：“我们看到了一个被唤醒的中国，但中国面对很多的问题，'文革'破坏的生产秩序和工作环境，大量返城青年等。邓小平的问题是，如何在不变动中国的社会主义制度的情况下，拯救一切。” 邓小平在第一时间作出决定。在上一年12月召开的十一届三中全会上，通过了两个农业文件，宣布解禁农村工商业，家庭副业和农村集贸市场得到认可。就在知青集体返城的当月，中共中央、国务院又迅速转批了第一个有关发展个体经济的报告：“各地可根据市场需要，在取得有关业务主管部门同意后，批准一些有正式户口的闲散劳动力从事修理、服务和手工业个体劳动。”全国的第一张个体户执照据说发给了温州的小贩章华妹。到这一年底，全国批准开业的个体工商户约十万。 面对汹涌的就业压力，最明智的做法莫过于“开闸放水”。中国经济民营化的必然性，在1979年毕露无遗，顺之则存，逆之则亡。 在法律和政策意义上，中国民营公司的合法性，是在此时被确定下来了。在两年后，它将遇到第一个考验，而它要构成一个完整的法律保护还要断断续续地进行20年。但是，新的故事真的开始了，尽管开始得不情不愿，磕磕绊绊。 在安徽芜湖，一个目不识丁、自称是“傻子”的小商贩给全中国的理论家出了一道天大的难题。 42岁的年广久在当地是一个微不足道的小人物，他是个文盲，7岁开始在街巷捡烟头挣钱，9岁做学徒经商，十几岁接过父亲的水果摊开始持家。1963年他因“投机倒把罪”投机倒把，指“以买空卖空，囤积居奇，套购转卖等欺诈手段谋取暴利”。在计划经济年代，它被广泛运用于对个人经济交易行为的限制，因其定义边界含糊，所以有“投机倒把是个筐，什么罪都往里面装”的说法。1987年9月，国务院发布《投机倒把行政处罚暂行条例》。1997年，《刑法》修订案中删除经济犯罪中的“投机倒把罪”。被判处有期徒刑一年，出狱后为了维持生活，年广久炒起了瓜子。他不知从哪里偷学了一门手艺，炒出来的瓜子竟非常好吃，一磕三瓣，清香满口，慢慢地出了名。这一年，他想给自己的瓜子起一个名字，想来想去突然想到，他的父亲被街坊称为“傻子”，他自小也被叫成“小傻子”，于是索性叫个“傻子瓜子”得了。 “傻子瓜子”的牌子一挂出，没想到因为特别竟引来一片叫好声，他的生意越来越兴旺，一天的瓜子可以卖出两三千斤，他便请来一些无业青年当帮手，这些人一个个多起来，到秋天，别人帮他一点数，居然有了12个，这下子捅出一个大娄子了。 年广久生意好，本来就让四周的人眼红，现在他请的雇工居然有了12个，有人马上联想到马克思在《资本论》中做出的那个著名论断：“雇工到了8个就不是普通的个体经济，而是资本主义经济，是剥削。”于是，“安徽出了一个叫年广久的资本家”、“年广久是剥削分子”的流言顿时传遍安徽。这场争论好像没有在当时的公开报纸上出现过，但是，在政府官员中却流传甚广，“安徽有个年广久，炒瓜子雇用了12个人，算不算剥削？”这成了一道十分敏感的命题流转在全国各地，争论，辩护，讨伐，一场带有浓烈的意识形态特征的大辩论开始了。 很显然，在当时正统的政治经济学话语体系中，年广久的剥削性质是毋庸置疑的。马克思在《资本论》第一卷第三篇第九章《剩余价值率和剩余价值量》中，曾经明确地划分了“小业主”与“资本家”的界线，按他的计算，在当时（19世纪中叶），雇工8人以下，自己也和工人一样直接参加生产过程的，是“介于资本家和工人之间的中间人物，成了小业主”，而超过8人，则开始“占有工人的剩余价值”，是为资本家。在几乎所有的社会主义理论中，“七下八上”是一条铁定的界线。如今，年广久的瓜子工厂居然雇工12人，其性质几乎不言自明。 傻子是资本家，说了谁也不信，但用理论一套却还真是的。在鲜活的现实面前，“经典”终于显出它的苍白和尴尬来。如果年广久的傻子瓜子应该被清除的话，那么，“家庭副业”怎么能够发展得起来？难道所有的工厂人数都必须控制在7个人之下？“傻子”出的这道难题，让全中国的理论家们争辩得面红耳赤。 事实上，在当时中国，年广久绝非孤例。对于刚刚开业的10万工商户来说，雇工数量是否应该限制，到底能不能超过八个，已经从一个抽象的理论问题直接衍变成了实际难题。在广东高要县，一个叫陈志雄的农民承包了105亩鱼塘，雇长工一人，临时工400个工日，当年获纯利一万多元，这在当地引起一阵激辩。在广州，一个叫高德良的个体户，下海创办“周生记太爷鸡”，做了不到半年就雇了六个帮工，被社会上指责是剥削，他很不服气，写了一封长信上书中央领导人，反映放开雇工等问题。1979年底，任仲夷到广东任省委书记，发现广东的个体户相当多，雇工十几个，二十几个，甚至几百个都有。这个问题到底怎么办？他也很苦恼，当时就要广东社科界“好好研究”。 这场大辩论要一直持续到1982年，年广久的瓜子工厂已经雇工105人，日产瓜子9000公斤，赚的钱据说也过100万元了，关于“个体户到底雇几个人算是剥削”的争论却是尘埃未定。这时候，邓小平出来讲话了。在中共中央政治局的一次讨论会上，邓小平建议对私营企业采取“看一看”的方针，他当时便举到了年广久的例子。 年广久因邓公一言而名留中国改革史。而在对待民间企业的政策上，这仅仅是第一道撕开的小口子，一道很小很小的，却决定了中国企业命运的小口子。在政策上，真正去掉对雇工数量的限制，还要等到1987年，在那一年的中央5号文件中，私营企业的雇工人数才被彻底放开。 这一年，写出了《日本，世界第一》的美国人傅高义跑到了广东，他发现，一大批的小工厂正在这里悄悄地、大面积地兴起，他们的创始人竟绝大多数是当年的偷渡客，而他们办工厂的形式被当地人称为“三来一补”。 所谓“三来一补”，指的是工厂的产品样式、原料和设备均由境外运来，生产出来的产品再以补偿贸易的方式出口，内地劳工和政府收取一定的加工费。全国第一家“三来一补”工厂是1978年8月创办于顺德县的大进制衣厂，第一年港商支付的加工费是80万澳元。这种形式在珠江三角洲一带迅速蔓延开来。它依靠港商解决了原料、技术和市场渠道问题，成为南方工业兴起的主要模式。就在大进制衣厂创办后的3个月，东南亚最大的毛纺制造商——香港永新企业有限公司的曹光彪在珠海创办了香洲毛纺厂，香港媒体在报道中第一次使用了“来料加工”和“补偿贸易”的新概念。 而有意思的是，这些创办工厂的港商大多数是当年的偷渡客。据傅高义的记录，“东莞官员估计，与香港签订的合同中，约有50%是与原来的东莞居民签订的。很显然，广州的省政府与它下属的县政府在对待偷渡客的问题上产生了微妙的差异。”这一年，广东省的报纸上充斥着打击偷渡客的各类新闻：12月，省政府还通过了一个《关于处理偷渡外逃的规定》，对偷渡未遂者的处罚相当严厉，而同时，在珠江三角洲的一些县市，地方官员则开始欢迎早年的偷渡客回乡办工厂。特别是在东莞、中山等县，大量的“三来一补”项目都是当年的逃港者回来办的。一位东莞干部对前来采访的傅高义说：“十年前我的主要职责就是防止偷渡和拘扣偷渡犯，过去我们把他们当作坏人，但现在我们认为他们富有冒险精神，才能出众，与那些留下来的老实农民不一样。” 为了提高政府的效率，也是在那一年，东莞县政府设立了以个叫做“对外加工装配办公室”的机构，宣传“一个窗口对外、一个图章办事”，港商在这里签一个合同，顶多个把小时，这在当时中国几乎是不可想象的事情。这个全国独一无二的机构一共了十年，东莞的工厂数目年年猛增，从1978年到1991年，东莞引进外来资金17亿美元，为全国县级城市之冠。 在70年代的最后一个年份，中国人开始从革命的狂热中醒来，贫穷如一根芒刺穿透刚刚复活的肌肤，让人感觉疼痛。在南方的福建，一个叫舒婷的女诗人以更委婉的手法写出了人们对摆脱贫困的渴望：我是贫穷∕我是悲哀∕我是你祖祖辈辈∕疼苦的希望呵∕是“飞天”袖间∕千百年未落到地面的花朵∕——祖国呵！ 《经济学人》在年终报道中统计说：“在经过了20年的匮乏后，北京的各项指数开始疯长。1979年，中国制造了3.34亿条麻布口袋，8.5个白炽灯泡，18.6万辆摩托车，130万台的电视机产量更是比1978年年增长了157%。根据国家统计局的数据，中国的通货膨胀率达到5.8%，因此中国政府承认一些人的实际收入事实上下降了，但是国有企业的工人和干部的收入平均增长达到了7.6%。”一位叫H·詹森的欧洲人回到了上海，35年前他在这个远东最大的殖民城市度过了童年，他的父亲是丹麦化学工程师，母亲是俄国人，如今他看的上海是一个处处遗留着殖民地痕迹的城市。“在毛泽东发起'文化大革命'的上海，已经没有一张毛泽东的画像，没有一个人提及政治。他们更感兴趣的是，商品、进口、美国人是否真的人人都有轿车。” 一个物质化的年代到来了。 1979年12月31日，方脸瘦高的四川万县人牟其中被释放出狱，四年前他因为写了一篇《中国往何处去》的长文而被打成反革命，据说最初已经内定为死刑，后来案子一拖再拖才没有真的判下来。这年下半年，四川开始清理“文革”的冤假错案，牟其中等人被宣布无罪释放。他没有回到县玻璃厂继续当他的烧炉工人，而是在出狱一个月后，向人借了300元钱，成立了一个“万县市江北贸易信托服务部”。这时候，他已经是将近40岁的人了，19岁那年，他曾经填过一阙《虞美人》，词曰：“九人踏雾入山来，重登太白岩。一层断瓦一层草，不似当年风光一般好。垣颓柱斜庙已败，何须再徘徊。愿去瑶池取玉柱，莫道大好山河无人顾。” 好一个“莫道大好山河无人顾”，写得如此好词的牟某人终非池中物，他的一腔少年意气在政治理想上空掷二十载，现在却要一股脑儿地宣泄到商业大海中了。“牟其中的年代”果然很快就要到来了。