Chapter 44 Figures in corporate history: "Tobacco King" right and wrong

In 1998, the biggest controversy in the Chinese business community was whether an entrepreneur named Chu Shijian should be sentenced to death. Chu Shijian is the chairman of Yunnan Hongta Tobacco Group.The predecessor of Hongta was Yuxi Cigarette Factory. As early as 1979, it was one of thousands of unknown small tobacco factories in Yunnan Province, with fixed assets of 10.6565 million yuan and production equipment all at the level of the 1930s and 1940s.Yunnan Tobacco ranks first in the country, and Yuxi is the "Hometown of Clouds and Tobacco". After Chu Shijian became the factory director, he paid close attention to quality and marketing, and created brands such as "Hongtashan" and "Ashima". He also purchased a large number of high-quality cigarettes. Tian, ​​the largest one has 2000 mu.By the mid-1980s, the Yuxi factory had become quite famous and could pay 500 million yuan in profits and taxes every year.

The rapid development of Yuxi Factory began in 1988. Before that, all tobacco prices in China were under planned control. In July of this year, the state announced that it would liberalize the prices of 13 kinds of "famous cigarettes" and implement market regulation. Among the famous cigarettes, 9 kinds are produced in Yunnan, and Chu Shijian's Yuxi Cigarette Factory has won 4 kinds.According to newspaper records at the time, on July 28, when cigarette prices were lifted, the price per pack of Hongtashan rose from 1.3 yuan to 3.9 yuan, and then rose to 5 yuan the next day.This year, among the top 10 enterprises that paid the most profits and taxes in the country, Yunnan Yuxi Cigarette Factory ranked fifth, and its economic benefits jumped to the top of the national light industry. Chu Shijian was awarded the "National Model Worker" and the "May 1st Labor Medal" "Gainer.One of Chu Shijian's most "innovative" measures is that in order to break through the state's control over the output indicators of tobacco factories, he bypassed relevant policies and fully enlarged his own production capacity by acquiring small tobacco factories in Yunnan and other provinces. It is a "gray" reform channel, which makes the country's restrictions on the total amount of tobacco production useless.By the mid-1990s, Yuxi Cigarette Factory’s annual profits and taxes had reached more than 20 billion yuan, accounting for 60% of Yunnan’s fiscal revenue, which was equivalent to the sum of fiscal revenues of more than 400 agricultural counties. It became the fifth largest tobacco company in the world.In 1997, the intangible assets of "Hongta Mountain" were 35.3 billion yuan, ranking first among all Chinese brands. During the 17 years of Chu Shijian's tenure, Hongta Group paid a total of 80 billion yuan in taxes.When inspecting the enterprise, a central leader said: "This is not a cigarette factory, this is simply a money printing factory."

At the end of 1996, the Letters and Calls Office of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection received an anonymous report and launched an investigation into Chu Shijian. On December 28, Chu tried to leave the country through the Hekou border gate in Yunnan, but was intercepted by the border checkpoint.In June of the following year, Chu Shijian was arrested on charges of corruption. He confessed his crime to the procuratorate's pre-trial personnel: "In July 1995, a new president was to take over from me, but it was not clear who would take over. I think that after the new president takes over, I have to hand over the right to sign. I have worked hard all my life, and I can’t just hand over the right to sign. I have to think about my future, and I can’t suffer in vain. So I decided to privately divide more than 3 million US dollars, and return to my side People say, enough is enough! I can’t finish eating in this lifetime.”

Chu Shijian has always been brooding about the gap between his contribution and income. In 1990, he complained to the reporter, “Ten years ago, the salary was 92 yuan, and the bonus was the highest in the factory at that time, 6 yuan, and the total monthly income was only 110 yuan. Ten years later, today, the factory is doing well. Now, my monthly income is more than 480 yuan, and with some awards, the total can reach 1,000 yuan.” Around 1995, Chu Shijian’s annual salary plus the reward from Yunnan Province was 300,000 yuan. He calculated an account, For every 140,000 yuan in profits and taxes created for the country, he only gets 1 yuan in return.

According to the investigation of the procuratorial system, the amount of embezzlement by Chu Shijian was about 7 million yuan, which was a huge amount, and he could not escape the death penalty according to the law.However, after the case was published in the newspapers, it caused an uproar in the business circles and the media. Almost all people sympathized with Chu Bao. It was the climax of "retirement of the country and advancement of the people" and property rights reform. People believed that Chu Shijian had made outstanding contributions. There is a huge gap between his income and contribution, and greed can be forgiven.Based on this, someone summed up a "59-year-old phenomenon"-in fact, when he was arrested, Chu was 67 years old, and he was already "overage service"-that is, because the head of a state-owned enterprise has a low income, he is very young. It may cause them to make a fortune before retirement. The "59-year-old phenomenon" is considered a trap created by the system.

The sympathy and support for Chu Shijian has become a very intriguing force.At the Beijing Two Sessions in early 1998, more than a dozen representatives of the National People's Congress and members of the CPPCC from the business and academic circles jointly called Chu Shijian to "cry for injustice" and called for "keeping people under the gun." The leaders of state-owned enterprises who have made such a huge contribution to the national industry, their annual income is not as good as that of a singer singing a song on stage!" In January 1999, Chu Shijian was sentenced to life imprisonment "because of his confession and meritorious service".According to media reports at the time, when the verdict was read out, Chu Shijian just shook his head and did not speak.

Chu Shijian did not sit in prison for long. Around 2000, he was released on medical parole for medical reasons.He and his wife contracted 2,000 mu of mountain land to grow sweet oranges in Ailao Mountain, Yunnan.Some entrepreneurs traveled thousands of miles to visit him, including Wang Shi of the Vanke Group. Wang said, "Although I think he did commit a crime, this does not prevent me from respecting him as an entrepreneur." Chinese Enterprise Home" reporter Liu Jianqiang also recorded a rumor, "The government set up an account for Chu Shijian, and deposited hundreds of thousands of yuan in it as his medical expenses. It didn't take long for the money in the account to become several million. , I don’t even know who saved it.”