Chapter 42 Chapter 4: The Chinese "Manhattan" Rising on the Field Ridge

During my stay in Yiwu, there was a scene that made me very excited. That night I went to the City Association for Science and Technology Building to observe farmers learning foreign languages. This in itself was quite new.Once upon a time, Chinese farmers were still working hard to "repair the earth" all day long with their faces facing the loess and their backs facing the sky. Later, farmers in southern Jiangsu first embarked on a road of township enterprises, and then there were "little nannies" in Anhui And the story of the "shoemaker" in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province entering the city. In recent years, there have been farmers setting up businesses and setting up markets, trying to compete with the city people. Levels of learning a foreign language!In fact, it has been in Yiwu for two or three years, so it is nothing new. It is just that those of us who lack understanding of the current situation of Chinese farmers find it novel.

What excited me that night was that I found a Chinese "Manhattan" in central Zhejiang, far away from the capital!Because it also has wide streets criss-crossing like the coasts of the Western Hemisphere; there are also people and traffic surrounded by high-rise buildings, the brightly lit never-night city among groups of mansions; In fact, I knew at the time that this was because I was immersed in a feeling of being intoxicated with the new city of Yiwu.But in the second blue sky after dawn, I still feel like I am in "Manhattan"!That’s right, the slight difference is that the Manhattan I saw on the west coast of the Atlantic Ocean two years ago was surrounded by tidal seas, but now the “Manhattan” in front of me is surrounded by commercial seas—the tide seas of merchants.

Manhattan is the business capital of the world. I am excited and proud of my discovery, because China's "Manhattan" has not only risen in front of us, but also has become the commercial capital of Asia. The area of ​​1,105 square kilometers is not a small place. It is several times larger than Manhattan in New York, and it is almost the size of two Singapore countries and one Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.In the West, who dares to underestimate the small island of Manhattan, which carries the economic giant of the United States of America?In the East, has anyone ever doubted that Singapore, a small and rich country that dominates one of the "Four Asian Tigers"?So, whoever despises China's Yiwu from now on is making a mistake that should not be made.

There are a few data, which may be most directly introduced to those who have not been to Yiwu, so that they can have a clear understanding: On the eve of reform and opening up, Yiwu's GDP was 128 million yuan, and its fiscal revenue was 1779 million yuan. Ten thousand yuan, the annual per capita income of farmers is 180 yuan. Twenty years later, in 1998, the city's GDP exceeded 12 billion yuan, fiscal revenue reached 500 million yuan, and the per capita net income of farmers was more than 4,500 yuan.In a flick of a finger, on the same piece of land, the three major indicators that measure the main social development of a region have changed by 94 times, 28 times and 25 times respectively.It may be rare for this kind of change to have such a high-speed growth in any country in the same period of time.But Yiwu people have achieved it, and facing such a high-speed growth number, they will tell you with a calm smile: there are many "ambushes" hidden in this number, and the actual situation will be far more than that!

In fact, I have already felt this.You only need to look at the "several major events" listed in the annual work report of the city leaders, and the city that is changing every day, and then walk into a shopping mall or an ordinary citizen's family, and ask someone's family You will be shocked when you hear how much you earned last year.I don’t think it’s strange anymore, because in Yiwu, a place where the market economy is socialized and the economy from individuals and private ownership has dominated, it is difficult to get correct data through simple statistics—” "It's a common phenomenon.There is a vivid figure that can let us understand the wealth of Yiwu people from the side: the net return of funds from banks in Zhejiang Province at the end of each year, Yiwu accounts for 10% of the total net return of funds in Zhejiang Province one third!Come on, there are currently 68 counties and cities in Zhejiang Province, and Little Yiwu turned out to be a heavyweight "pocket"!In today's world, a new axiom has long been understood: the strength of a country is no longer determined by the size of the territory, and the strength of people is not determined by the size of the body. Yiwu people are building an oriental "Manhattan" on their own fields...

Today (March 30, 1999), when I was watching "News Network" after dinner, a friendly name and brand suddenly appeared on the screen - Dachen Town in Yiwu, Zhejiang and "Neng Dali" It was "on the list" of CCTV.The former Dachen Town is one of the more than 20 villages and towns in Yiwu City, the "Hometown of Chinese Shirts", and the latter is a famous brand product of the "King of Chinese Shirts" created by a pair of brothers in this town.There may not be many people who know about the place name of Dachen Town, because there are hundreds of thousands of rural towns like this in China, and the towns with the same name may form a long list, but what we are talking about now is Yiwu City. Dachen Town has a unique miracle in any Chinese town with the same name or not, that is, the shirts produced here can be supplied to one-tenth of the 1.2 billion Chinese people every year.Nearly 500,000 pieces a day are continuously sent to the market, and 150 million pieces a year. If such a quantity is flattened out, it will not be able to cover the entire Manhattan of New York in soft warmth. Oriental "Manhattan" weaves a beautiful dream.

Before the Spring Festival this year, I came to Yiwu for an interview again, and the first stop was Dachen Town.I am eager to feel the heroism and warmth of "the hometown of shirts".Before that, I heard a touching legend.More than ten years ago, there was a peasant woman from Dachen Town who went out of the mountains to work in other places. Because she went to work in the city for the first time, she deliberately tore a piece of "foreign cloth" and sewed a blouse overnight.On the first day after entering the gate, the mistress of the city happily pulled her smock, looked left and right, and said hello repeatedly.The next day the hostess also went to the street to pull a piece of more fashionable fabric and asked the old peasant woman to sew a smock for her. "Great, my colleagues all agreed, they each want to ask you to make one, how about 5 yuan a piece?" One day, the hostess in the city brought back a pile of fabrics.The peasant woman with a happy face said: "Okay, allow me a few days." The peasant woman in Dachen Town readily took it, and after a few days, she handed over several sewn smocks to the hostess. The hostess happily handed her 50 yuan. "This is salary, you must take it, it is given by others." She couldn't refuse.After a long time, this old peasant woman saw that the hostess came home wearing an embroidered shirt, and she thought it was beautiful anyway.Later, when she returned to Dachen, she tried to bring two embroidered shirts to her sister-in-law in the same village.This was so beautiful that her sister-in-law was spoiled!The girl in the village was so jealous that she secretly sewed an embroidered shirt for herself.This story was passed on from ten to one hundred, and all the girls in Dachen Town wore embroidered shirts.Later, some people brought this kind of embroidered shirts outside and into the city. It didn't matter in this area. After a while, countless handy peasant women joined the ranks of sewing embroidered shirts.The clothing business in Dachen Town was formed at that time.Later men also joined the ranks of the clothing business.It’s different for old men. It’s like saying that Chinese women take care of housework and can cook, but it’s mostly men who are good cooks. This is because dexterity and technology are two concepts.The technology that has entered the threshold should really be said by the big men-of course, it is not ruled out that there are also strong women who can conquer the world, and there are quite a few capable women in Dachen Town.However, after all, the old men account for the majority of the people who have become big, and Dachen Town is no exception in the process of becoming a "shirt town".

"Shirtland" is much more grand than I imagined.Xu Jiangqi, the young secretary of the township party committee, is not like some township cadres who take out "annual statistical tables" and pile up data like a mountain. He pointed to the streets lined with high-rise buildings and asked me, does his place look like it? City, he said that you Beijingers have the most authority to judge this issue.I looked around, and I was a bit embarrassed, because according to the standard of "city", it seems that there is less noise and more quiet here. Although there are many cars and people passing by on the wide street, it is obviously well-organized and there are no such disturbing things. Annoying crowding.So I had no choice but to say: "The city is not necessarily enough, but compared with the medium-sized counties in the north, it is more than enough and much more modern." Xiao Xu laughed and said that this was enough, because he had fought with others After such a gamble, if someone can describe their Dachen Town as a city, then he will be regarded as a kind of "promotion" from the city to the small town to become a secretary.Now that he got the "high promotion" quote from me, he naturally enjoyed himself a bit.Secretary Xiao Xu used to be a genius in the Propaganda Department of the Municipal Party Committee, so he was very humorous. "However, I really feel the greatness of our Dachen Town." He said affectionately. In the past "Learning from Dazhai in Agriculture", the people of Dachen who "faced the loess and turned their backs to the sky" all the year round also showed up. It is an old model in the village, but apart from a few words of empty praise, the farmers still have nothing to do. When their children get married, they have to rely on the few feet earned by the old father who shakes the rattle drum to "exchange chicken feathers for sugar".The reform and opening up has brought real opportunities to the people of Dachen Town.When people like Niansanli people in this city started to form their own tangible market, especially when the Yiwu small commodity market boomed later, the farmers in Dachen Town started to build their own industrial advantages, that is, the shirt processing industry that has gradually become a climate.At first, it was a workshop-style processing factory in Dongjia and Xijia; later, it was a small-scale form in Dongyi Village and Xiyi Village, and then there were shirt processing households in patches; Flowering everywhere like mushrooms after rain.This process is very interesting, let’s talk about the sales and transportation. The earliest sales of the Dachen people were carried by a few women carrying bamboo baskets or a cloth bag on a tractor or something to sell in the free market in the city. ;Later, the men went out to contact customers with samples, and then notified the home to deliver the goods; and later, the whole car was pulled out; now all the merchants from all over the country and even from abroad came to Dachen Town to collect goods and wait for them. .The way farmers set up factories and do business has also changed.From the initial family workshop style, to the joint household mutual assistance style of several people, and then from the joint operation of several households to the independent combat situation of large households, it has developed to the current situation where the group and famous brand product enterprises take the lead and interact with thousands of small businesses in the town. .Group companies and brand-name products make up the magnificent hall of today's Dachen Town as the "Hometown of Shirts in China", and thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises are the cornerstones and surrounding green spaces and gardens that set off the magnificent hall of the "Hometown of Shirts in China"... Such an intertwined and orderly industrial structure has formed Dachen Town today, which is impregnable and worthy of the name "Hometown of Shirts in China".

Xiao Xu, pointing to the streets with almost all new buildings and the buildings on both sides, said: "Farmers can now understand what a market is. We now have more than 400 garment enterprises in the town. In order to improve their market competitiveness, they were scattered in the past. Almost all the family-owned factories in various villages have now moved to the town, and more than 60 of them are basically concentrated in the town. We used to be a farmer here, but now they are almost all of one brand or even a few dozen An enterprise with dozens of brands. Every time they move to the town, Dachen New Town is equivalent to an extension, a larger scale, and a modernization. This kind of gathering in line with market laws brings the town The urbanization of construction, the scale of enterprise management, the industrialization of local advantages, the speediness of supply, marketing and transportation, the competition of the survival of the fittest, and the good climate and conditions for the formation of the market in Dachen Town itself. And the marketization of Dachen Town itself The benefits brought to us by the original advantages of the "Township of Shirts" are countless: the interoperability of information, the benign adjustment of prices, the convenience of mergers and acquisitions between enterprises and the joint construction of the "Township of Shirts" Image and influence. Just a few years ago, who knew our small town of Dachen, and even the name of Yiwu was not known in the whole country. But the situation is quite different now. The clothing industry, especially the shirts industry, if he doesn’t know or understand the market in our Dachen Town, he will definitely suffer a big loss. On the other hand, it is the market influence of the “Shirt Township” that makes businessmen in the shirt industry across the country and even in Southeast Asia All go here, Dachen Town itself has become the market center of the entire shirt industry and plays the role of the first market.”

"How do you adapt to this development?" This time Secretary Xiao Xu showed me a written document, which was a detailed plan of Dachen Town's "18 infrastructure investment and implementation plans in 1999, responsible persons", etc.According to my rough calculation, the total investment exceeds 100 million yuan. "In the past few years, our town government has invested so much money every year to improve and transform the town's infrastructure, so that the town can truly become a "shirt town" with industrial advantages, and more importantly, to establish a "shirt town" ’ market advantage,” he said.

"A town-level unit spends 100 million yuan for infrastructure construction every year. Where does the money come from?" "Of course, we must first have strength!" Xiao Xu said proudly, "Last year, the industrial and agricultural output value of our town reached 2 billion yuan, the fiscal revenue was 19 million yuan, and the per capita income of farmers was 6,080 yuan. Judging from this figure, as a township The economic achievements are already remarkable. To develop township construction, relying on the power of the government alone is obviously insufficient, but our potential lies in the money in the hands of farmers! Our enterprises here are all individuals and private owners. Those who are not ordinary, they have tens of millions of billions of assets. For example, among the 18 projects we will carry out this year, 50 million yuan of funds will be provided by the town government, and the other 50 million yuan will depend on those of ours. Individual and private owner!" From the fact that the people in Niansanli voluntarily contributed to the road construction, I no longer doubt that the people of Dachen town also have a common virtue of Yiwu people: when individuals become rich, they never forget the collective and public welfare undertakings. Today, Dachen Township is already a very large and advanced town, and the government's 18 new investment projects this year are even more exciting.Look, they are going to build a picturesque "Riverside Green Corridor", a four-lane Dachen Avenue and an overpass like in a big city within this year of the end of the century... I couldn't help but think of Manhattan again.So he said to Secretary Xiao Xu: "I hope your Dachen Town will become the 'Times Square' of 'Manhattan of China'!" "No problem. Next time you come, you can see our 'Dachen Plaza'." I took a closer look at the 18 projects in his hands. No, one of them is to build a collection of various transactions within this year. And the "Dachen Square" with market functions. Well, you people from Yiwu, it seems that everything you have done yesterday is to write notes for China's "Manhattan" tomorrow! When I came to Dachen Town, I had to go to "Neng Dali", one of the "kings of shirts" in China. This is a factory run by two brothers.At present, the "Neng Dali" products of their factory have become a series, and the National Garment Company believes that their sales volume and brand advantages in the Chinese shirt industry are among the top five or six. "Neng Dali" is of course the "shirt boss" in Yiwu. His elder brother is Chen Xijian, he is chubby, and looks like a big boss; his younger brother, Chen Xidong, is handsome and handsome.It has not been many years since the two brothers started the shirt industry and now they have become the leading enterprises in the national shirt industry. Before 1992, the two brothers were still "little shopkeepers" who traveled around the world carrying leather bags and sacks to sell goods.Speaking of which, the development of the Chen brothers is not complicated. Their parents are both authentic farmers, and they have 4 brothers and sisters in total.The eldest brother, Chen Xi, saw that when he graduated from high school, he really wanted to go to university, but he failed after several hard work, so he had to go home and become a farmer.This guy is a person with ideals and ambitions. When others have started a clothing business, although he still has a "college dream" in his heart, he is far away from the reality of life after all.At this time, the younger brother Chen Xidong also graduated from junior high school. The two brothers discussed it and said that we should also do business.At that time, it was not like setting up a factory in a serious manner like now. They first bought a sewing machine, and after returning home after farming in the dark, they tried to make a few pieces under the small kerosene lamp, and then went to the street to sell them.If you can sell it, make a few more.If you can't sell it, go to the field and plant a field and try again.As you do it, someone will come to pick up the goods, that is, sell the goods at a low price to middlemen, and these middlemen will be responsible for selling them for you.A piece of clothing can earn one or two yuan or even a few cents at most.But this is better than farming!The Chen brothers, who were struggling with their fate, decided to buy sewing machines with all their saved money, and then hired twenty or thirty small workers.In this way, they worked in the countryside for another two full years, and in the third year they rented a house in a small town and set up a somewhat decent factory. "The eight years from 1989 to 1996 were really like the 'Eight Years of the War of Resistance'. That period was the hardest year for both of us." In the magnificent living room, Chen Xidong, the younger brother of the general manager He said with emotion, "At that time, our annual output was about 200,000 to 300,000 pieces. This scale belongs to the stage where we can neither form our own independent products nor have the advantage of market price competition. The only thing we can compete with others is to rely on sales. flexibility. But it was not an easy task. At that time, my two brothers divided the labor, he went to Xi’an and I went to Shenyang. This is half of China from the west to the north. As long as you can name the place, I didn’t go without our brothers. Yes. Some local people don’t know very well. My brother and I have both been involved. Do you know how our business was done in those years? Hey, it’s really interesting to think about it now. It’s not really a business, it’s Recognize the door! Because we are a small factory, no one knows us, let alone our products, so every time we can only recognize the door of others. But in the past few years, we have recognized the way of the door. I feel that in China There is so much potential for doing business, that is our vast Midwest and Northeast regions. The characteristics there represent the basic level of Chinese people, and the production and sales of products that are suitable for these places are exactly the right place for China. The doorway to the market. In 1996, after the "eight years of the Anti-Japanese War", our two brothers decided to start a large shirt business in a decent way, so we invested more than 30 million yuan. More than 10 million, so some people speculated whether we were speculating in real estate. When our modern factory buildings were erected and a full set of equipment imported from Japan began to fly, the folks in Dachen Town were amazed, saying that this is like making a big business. Business!" Chen Xidong showed me around his modern ready-to-wear assembly line, while talking about the wise decisions he and his elder brother made back then, "You have seen it, such a big business, at first many people said that these two brothers, The famous brands we smoke and wear are all borrowed money, and there are days when they cry. However, in just three years, we relied on our own technological advantages and scale advantages to occupy the commanding heights of China's shirt industry. The advantage of Dali's famous brand has made the company develop like a rocket. Now the annual output value has reached more than 100 million yuan, and the profit has exceeded 10 million yuan. The intangible assets of the "Dali" brand alone are worth 160 million yuan... ..." The Chen brothers are "billionaires" who told me how much money they have.According to the current market share and famous brand effect of "Neng Dali" in the Chinese shirt industry, the Chen brothers can't stop the bills rolling in even if they are lying down.Chen Xidong, who only had a junior high school education, listened to me, and showed a simple and honest smile that only a farmer's son can have. He said: "How much money is not very important to my brothers now, you may not believe it, our father My mother still lives in the country, and we still farm some land. Although they can take inexhaustible money from their son, they still prefer to keep their own way of life. My brothers have another pursuit in life. We are more What I think about is how to further develop the market and occupy the market, so that Chinese men can wear our "Non Dali", and one day all foreigners will wear Chinese "Non Dali" instead of "Peel" Cardan'." I completely believe what Chen Xidong said, because it took more than ten years for Yiwu people to establish the largest small commodity market in Asia, and the time for "Neng Dali" to dominate the Chinese shirt industry is even shorter, only five or six years. "Pierre Cardin" is old, and the Chen brothers are only thirty or forty years old, who do you think will win?Of course it is our Yiwu people, our "Neng Dali"!When walking out of the factory area, Chen Xidong specially invited me to sit in the park in front of his factory.I looked around, and after admiring the clusters of flowers, the small bridges and flowing water, and the flying cranes on the green hills, I couldn't help but feel a little inferior: When can I see such a fairyland in front of my house in the capital, what kind of life should it be? "We spent 5 million yuan on the land here. But in order to let the folks in Dachen Town enjoy the happiness in the park like the city people, we are very happy to do this..." Chen Xidong's words, let me I felt a magma-like hotness in Dachen Farmer's chest! (I learned from the newspaper: The Chen brothers are even more powerful now. Not only do they have a listed company named "China Fashion" in Singapore, they also recently invested 200 million yuan to participate in the establishment of "Qiantang Aerospace Co., Ltd.", becoming the owner of a private airline.) I thought that without getting in touch with people like Sun Rongfu, it would be impossible to truly understand the origin and depth of changes in the Yiwu market, and of course it would be impossible to truly understand the spiritual world of Yiwu people. He put his home on a hill on the outskirts of Yiwu.Coming to Sun Rongfu's "territory" from the bustling urban area of ​​Yiwu, there is a feeling of returning to nature.The fence is still there, the vegetable field is still there, and the chickens, ducks, dogs, and cats in the forefoot and behind the feet are happily moving forward, backward, left, and right... Sun Rongfu's "territory" is the entire mountain plus all the way down. The extended hillside has a total area of ​​more than 100 mu.Here are his two home addresses, a new one and an old one.The old one is a typical Jiangsu-Zhejiang farmhouse, and the new one is the most luxurious and imposing Western-style building among personal residences I have seen—even some senior leaders or high-end villas in the capital are far inferior to the new residence of the Sun Mansion.Sun Rongfu let me appreciate what is called wealth, but this is not the main thing. Sun Rongfu let me appreciate more the lofty pursuit and quality of Yiwu people. How much money does Lao Sun have?I didn't ask him, it was a very rude question.But I know that the only Chouzhou Park in the urban area of ​​Yiwu is donated by him, Sun Rongfu.This happened 10 years ago, when Yiwu's market was still at a normal level, and Yiwu people were only in the process of getting rid of poverty and just moving towards a well-off society. Only one park was built. In 1988, the one-year-old park had an income of hundreds of thousands of yuan. Needless to say, from the perspective of investment return, many people said that Lao Sun was more accurate than others, and it was a real "unpopular business." .But at this moment, when people were preparing to watch Rongfu Sun hold the "golden baby" in the second year, his old grandson actually wrote a letter to the city government, saying that he would donate the park to the city for free.At that time, hundreds of thousands of Yiwu people were all shocked: Sun Rongfu is simply amazing! Sun Rongfu is really great, not because he is rich, but because he is a man who knows how to run a business and has a strong bone.In the eyes of ordinary people, Lao Sun is an unsmiling person, but only when you walk into his heart, you will understand why this tough guy rarely smiles.Perhaps each of the many "rich men" in Yiwu today has an extraordinary legend, but it seems that no one can compare with Sun Rongfu, because the bitterness and torture he once suffered has been immersed in his bones.I first got some information about Sun Rongfu from the old secretary Xie Gaohua. "Lao Sun served as the deputy secretary of the party branch of the brigade during the 'Cultural Revolution'. Later, he was expelled from the party because he led farmers out to work and was designated as a 'black contractor'." Xie Gaohua said, "I arrived in 1982. Soon, one day, Sun Rongfu wrote me a note, proposing to contract Fenghuang Mountain—it was a collectively owned fruit tree farm, which was losing money year after year. Fenghuang Mountain has a nice name, but it is actually just a barren hill with a total of 120 mu of land. Sun Rongfu proposed to contract There are three conditions: one is that the contract period is 5 years; the other is that 20,000 yuan is handed over to the brigade every year; People with party membership. But I think that Lao Sun contracted a collective enterprise that has been losing money for years, and can pay 10 people. This is beneficial to the country and the people. He approved the word 'agreed' on his note, and wrote: 'The contract period of 5 years is too short, and it can be contracted for 30 years.' I took risks to do this matter, and there were indeed a lot of rumors afterwards." There are five members of Sun Rongfu's family. Apart from him and his wife, they have two sons and a daughter.Now the eldest son is married, but as a family company, "Yiwu Yongqiang Breeding Co., Ltd.", only 5 members of the family have shares.Sun Rongfu's family lives very harmoniously. The old Sun is now the chairman of the billionaire company; the eldest son is the general manager; the second is the daughter, who works as an accountant;It's very interesting. The 5 people seem to have different positions, but in reality, no one has less power than the other. Don't believe me, isn't your grandson the chairman?Don't you have the biggest job?But if you make a wrong decision, Mrs. Sun, who cooks and cooks at home, has a cure for you-she won't pay you a penny, and it depends on where your chairman goes! "Our family implements democratic discussions, collective decision-making, clear division of labor, and each takes responsibility." Lao Sun made the first public disclosure of the "insider" of the family business.He said: "I wanted to invest in giant salamander farming the year before last, but the plan was not approved at the shareholders' meeting. Only I voted in favor of it and they voted against it. I didn't make a difference. Everyone thought that raising salamander fish was a big investment and risky. In particular, whether the Chinese market can make salamanders a climate remains to be seen. Although I personally think that the Chinese salamander market must have a promising future, since the shareholder meeting disagrees, I can only obey. Two years later, this year, When I brought up the development and breeding of salamanders again, after a period of investigation and argumentation by all parties, all hands were raised at last, so we decided to invest 13 million yuan..." Sun Rongfu's family company has shown me a gratifying picture of the maturity of China's modern private economy. There are not a few successful families and private enterprises like Sun Rongfu in Yiwu.Coming down from Sun Rongfu's condescending Phoenix Mountain, I saw another amazing place in Yiwu City, that is, the large modern farms built by Yiwu farmers themselves. Yiwu is located in the central part of Zhejiang Province. It is an area with both plains and hills, and some mountainous areas. It has very typical natural conditions for agricultural counties and cities in China.After seeing Yiwu City, which already has an urban style, and towns such as Dachen Town and Niansanli, which have begun to take shape in a modern scale, I imagined a kind of worry about the future development of China's rural areas: in the future, all rural areas will become cities, and those natural How can farmers in mountainous or hilly areas with poor conditions be modernized?In other words, with the development of a city like Yiwu City beyond imagination, will there be serious differences between the rich and the poor?Suppose that in the coming 21st century, many farmers who used to be farmers have moved into cities because of business or business, or some of them have changed from farmers to citizens overnight entirely because of the development of our cities and towns.Who will plant the land at that time?Can farmers survive?How to make our land still have endless children? When I met the current leaders of Yiwu City, it was not the kind of superficial articles I wanted to get.However, when the question was given to these young city leaders, what I didn't expect was that they answered my doubts and worries with confidence.They told me that what they are currently concentrating on in their tenure is to better emancipate their minds, clarify their thinking, and adapt to local realities in the next five years, unswervingly implementing the development strategy of "prospering business and building the city". Relying on the professional market advantages that have been formed, Yiwu will be built into a medium-sized city with a fairly modern level.Specifically, it is necessary to accelerate the construction of the four satellite towns of Suxi, Niansanli, Fotang and Shangxi while further speeding up the urban construction process of Yiwu. "At that time, due to the intervention and merger of four satellite towns, our Yiwu urban area will be a modern medium-sized city in the true sense. The rural administrative areas of the city will gather towards the satellite towns, and between the satellite towns, the satellite towns The town and the central urban area are connected by light and fast roads. The entire Yiwu township and villages form a network structure that reflects and interacts with each other around the central urban area, thus forming a huge development trend of joint forces and interactions. In this way, what we traditionally call The worrying urban-rural gap will be truly eliminated, and there will be no distinction between farmers and citizens..." Secretary Zhao Jinyong said this to me, frankly without thinking while waving his brush at the side of his office.After listening to it, I felt a strong shock in my heart—a kind of shock that came from beyond my imagination.I don't think it's too hard to see a certain kind of prosperity in a place. The trouble is that we often don't hear the high-level thinking of local decision-makers. The high-level thinking of the Yiwu decision-makers, full of the color of the times and infinite passion, changed my original desire to enter the paradise-like farmer’s manor, and I had to turn around and enter the future world that Yiwu’s leaders showed me.And this can't help but remind me of that winter in 1997.In that winter, I spent nearly a month visiting several important cities in the eastern United States, where there are historical tracks that record the development of the most powerful country in the world today.Therefore, I went to Boston, where the Native Americans fought bloody battles with British tea merchants, and also to Philadelphia, where Washington signed the Declaration of Independence. Later, I walked into the Lincoln Memorial in Independence Square in front of the White House, and finally stayed in New York for a long time. .Facing the most powerful country in the world, I am trying to find an answer: What makes a nation with a history of only two or three hundred years develop so rapidly in a short period of time?Rely on many things, some external, more internal.But I have come to this conclusion: in every period of America's history of becoming a strong country, there is always a person called "Ming Jun" in Chinese terms.We are familiar with Washington, we are familiar with Lincoln, but unfortunately I have never been able to find out who created the island of Manhattan in New York.When I stood in the "Empire State Building" overlooking the forest-like buildings and the surging traffic and people between the buildings, the only thing I really wanted to know was who created the world's largest commercial capital?Of course I know that the power of commerce can promote the development of urban construction, and of course I also know that the market can create a prosperous atmosphere. However, I wanted to seek the leader and pioneer who created this world commercial city, but I failed.But this does not mean that I am blocked from further thinking: Isn't China's construction and historical process because of the prosperity of the "Mingjun" in one dynasty? Yiwu people should feel fortunate that they have obtained this possibility in every important historical stage.It has been 20 years since the reform and opening up, and 18 years since the Yiwu market. Counting from the time of Xie Gaohua, the leaders of Yiwu have changed several times. The people know that whichever period develops the fastest, there must be a good leader who is supported by the people.Today, Yiwu is in the important period of crossing the century, and it is just at the stage of marching from an unknown small town to a modern medium-sized city with a great reputation in China. Today's Yiwu people naturally turn their eyes to their today's leader. It is obvious that a region like Yiwu, where social strength and people's lives have developed to a considerable level, how to adapt to the times, grasp the initiative in work, and raise regional economic and social development to a new height is the task of the current team. the most important subject ahead.In the face of challenges, the team is always clear-headed. They hold high the banner of "starting a business again, developing again, and improving again", and they have never let go of their shoulders for a day. Zhao Jinyong, secretary of the municipal party committee, is very aware of this. He said to me: "As a 'county magistrate' who was born as a farmer, I know what the people think and want. The people are the main force in the development of a region, and they are "Chicken". Only when this main force is fully mobilized and the "hen" is fed, can it lay many eggs and promote the historical process of society. Now sometimes when we talk about work achievements, we always talk about it. It is actually wrong to say that it is "under the direct leadership" and "under the cordial care" of a certain leader and a certain department, and finally "under the efforts of the masses". The people create history and wealth.第一位的。义乌有今天，难道不是这个理吗？领导的作用当然很重要，可领导的作用只有顺应民心时它才发挥真正动力。什么是民心？对一个地区而言，根本的就是发展经济，让人民生活富起来，让社会朝前走，这是体现民心民意的根本所在。要实现它，决策者和领导者就必须把工作的着眼点和心思放在人民群众最关心的事上，锐意创新，又能善于凝聚人心，在上上下下营造出一个思想同心、目标同向、工作同步的局面。我因此要求自己和市级领导班子的同志都要把关心和解决老百姓的事放在头一位来开展工作。拿我们义乌来说，就是我们的市场越办越兴旺，大家口袋里的钱越来越多，而且多了以后还能生活得有质量、有情趣。这就是我们现任市级班子为什么把精力都重点放在要把义乌建成现代化水平的中等城市之上。因为对中国的农民来说，能在身份上和生活方式上成为城里人这是最高的一种理想追求，而我们因此不断强化加速城市和集镇建设，为的就是满足老百姓的这种追求。同时城市发展了，我们又不能放弃农业生产，那么如何处理这一矛盾，我们当领导的责任就在于此。啥叫当干部？当干部就是干老百姓心里想的事，或者是心里想却又不能如愿的事。我常对下面的人说，我就是要你们拼命地工作、干活，为啥？为的就是不能把百姓的事给耽误了……” （义乌市的领导从赵金勇书记之后已换了几任，现在的市委书记是楼国华。楼书记在义乌已工作数年，他的执政理念更令人折服敬佩，因而也有了义乌近几年更飞速的跨越式发展。） 义乌的百姓告诉我，别看他们的市场已经在好几年前就在全国闻名，可义乌作为一个像模像样的市还是最近几年的事，这得归功于现任班子具有强烈的时代意识和工作的大手笔。曾几何时，这个本来只有几万人的小镇，一下成了拥有二三十万常住人口和每天十几万流动人口的城市。然而尽管许多百姓的户口完成了“农转非”程序，但思想、意识和行为上，仍然是不折不扣的农民。而当这种非城市化的意识和行为，集中在一个公共区域表露出来时，它给予我们的城市形象是绝对的丑陋。义乌市在一个时期很不叫外人中看，可以说是“水不清、路不平、灯不明”，污水横溢、垃圾遍地、交通阻塞…… “抓，一定要把城市的形象树起来，把市民的素质提高上去！”市委、市政府因此大刀阔斧地作出了加强城市建设的几大工程，而且在之后的连续几年里都投入了大量的资金。那时有相当一部分人对此并不理解，认为是决策者“拿百姓的钱为自己出风头”。 “其实我们是用心良苦啊！我们这些市级领导中，大半也都是农民出身，当我们接待外面的客人上义乌街上一走，你猜人家对我们说什么呀，他们冲着我们说：义乌人靠小商品市场是赚了钱，赚了大钱，但看看义乌街头脏兮兮乱哄哄的样，集市不像集市，城市不像城市，他们骨子里是成不了器的农民嘛！听了这些话，我们脸红呀！难道我们义乌人就只会赚钱只会办市场，而不会把自己收拾成标标准准的城里人吗？”市府的一位领导在自己的办公室一边情绪激昂地走动，一边如此对我说道，“不信我们农民就只能永远成为被人瞧不起的乡下人，我们更不信义乌人除了赚钱就不会建设自己的城市。于是我们发誓要把义乌的城市建设搞好，一方面是硬件要上去，比如加宽马路、规划新区等，更重要的是在提高市民的素质上。可农民身上确实有些习惯与传统并不好，你去帮助他改掉未必受到欢迎。这时候你推行正确的决策就必须坚决、果断，甚至敢冒落骂名的风险……” 这位领导同志自己没有给我讲述他们是怎样抓这些事和碰到了哪些可能要落骂名的事，但义乌的百姓却给我讲了。前年，市府针对义乌城市建设中的突出问题，就大抓了街头“三禁”：禁喇叭、禁烟炮、禁养家禽，那阵势百姓记忆犹新。先说禁喇叭。自打义乌小商品市场办起后，义乌人一直引以为自豪的是大街上“车水马龙、喇叭声声”，而且曾经有领导在大会上把这种现象归为义乌市场繁荣的象征。现在市里要抓禁喇叭声，这对已经无拘无束按了十几年喇叭的车手们可是一次前所未有的“禁锢运动”，一句话，哪儿也不习惯。 “不习惯也得改！”市领导铁了心要做这件事，“市交管部门要专门设一个箱子，用来装违章的驾驶证，这个箱子要上3把锁，交警部门1把，城管部门1把，市府1把。有话在先：谁也别想对违章的人开后门，谁也别想讲情。谁讲情，谁开后门，就撤谁的职！”那些日子里市委、市政府领导亲自带着能出办公室的机关干部、交警人员、城管人员，浩浩荡荡地走上大街。他们见一个按喇叭的就扣一个司机的驾驶证。百姓们讲述当时的情形时形象地说：“那段时间里，大伙对违章按喇叭者就像见过街老鼠。那劲头……哈哈哈！” 这一招可以称绝，连义乌人自己都不相信自己竟然能把像按喇叭这样的“老毛病”治好了。有了自我的信心，之后的禁烟炮、禁养家禽等也都大获成功。“三禁”一治，义乌市面上似乎一下换了个样，百姓回头一瞅，发自心底的一种意想不到，原来我们也是可以变成文明的城里人哪！ Originally!决策者们笑了。 百姓服了。 然而这仅仅是“初级阶段”，在义乌市领导的一班人心目中，他们勾画的现代化义乌市，应该是个“农工商贸市”齐发展的中国式新都会。而要实现这个宏伟目标，就必须在建设好城市的同时，还要建设好农民的美丽家园和不断扩张“中国小商品市场”的经济外延。这就是我下面所要描述的义乌最令人激动的内外两幅日新月异发生着裂变的锦绣—— 让我回到距市区一公里外的那个“福田庄园”吧。 中国真的有农庄吗？中国的农庄是个什么样？像当年的地主（我们今天50岁以下的人根本就没有见过地主的家业是什么样）？还是像电影里看到的外国富豪们所拥有的那种庄园？总之，庄园这个熟悉的名词，在我的概念之中是模糊的。前年的北美之行，我确实到过加拿大人的私人庄园。那些庄园基本是农庄式的，主人拥有很多地，一望无边。然后在一个合适的地方盖一个不太大的住宅。那住宅不像中国人那种四周有严实的围墙，或是一栋楼，或是几排加工厂。因为农庄主一般都要把生产的粮食或果品加工成半成品、成品。但我问过当地的农庄主现在有没有真正的那种西方电影里看到的富豪们所拥有的典雅庄园，他们告诉我已经很少有了，整个加拿大都不多。原因是随着现代工业的发达，有钱的富豪们已经都搬到大都市去了，乡下的那种田园式生活，对新一代富豪们已经失去了诱惑力。西方的庄园不再叫人留连忘返。那么我们中国的庄园是什么样呢？ 跨进义乌的“福田庄园”之后，我才明白原来中国的庄园是这样！你一定想象不到，这就是我们中国农民的庄园。有一泓无边、碧波荡漾的水面；有人工湖畔架起的最现代化的水上乐园以及清澈见底的海浪游泳场；有曲径通幽、风情万种的垂钓塘泊与无法尽收眼底的种植、养殖园圃……然而我最钟情的是那十几栋别致优雅、错落有致的小木屋，以及小木屋四周郁郁葱葱的绿林和一条条找不到同一形状的弯弯小路。啊，这就是我们中国的庄园，中国的农民庄园！ 主人楼瑛财问我这个京城里来的人对他的庄园作何评价。我竟一时答不上来。“真的，这里太美，太气派了！”我似乎一下意识到自己目光的局限和想象的贫乏。客观地讲，在义乌，我曾被入进难出的浩大市场而震动过，也为飞速崛起的小城感叹过，但我坚持认为义乌农民们建起的无数像“福田庄园”一样的农庄，是所有让我心潮澎湃中最热血沸腾的地方！ 楼瑛财的福田庄园始建于1996年，总面积达35.5公顷，其中陆地21.2公顷，水面14.3公顷。总投资为一亿三千多万元。它的最大开发潜力是观光、休闲、旅游和附加值特高的商品农业，以及水面产业三大块。庄园的整体设计充满现代化色彩和乡村特色，是主人请了当代中国最有设计实力的中科院、浙江省农科院、南京大学、浙江大学、航天部、中船总公司等科研机构与高等院校共同完成的。楼瑛财说，整个庄园的投资全是他家庭的股份，预计在8年左右收回全部投资。 "Are you sure?" “应该有。”楼瑛财对我的问话回答得很肯定。他说1995年政府号召开发荒山，他是第一批从小商品市场上撤出来搞农业开发和建设农庄的人。我问为什么敢冒过亿元的险，投资去搞农业开发，楼瑛财的话匣子就被打开了。 “我是农民呀，我们不种好地还有谁来建设农村呢？”楼瑛财动了真情，“我从小因为出身不好，初中毕业便回家种地。那时有门路的人跳出农门死也不想种地，可对我来说就不一样，能不被别人歧视，再苦再累的农活干一辈子觉得是一种幸福。可那时种地能得到什么呢？干一天10个工分，合3毛来钱！咋个活法？我全家8口人，老的老，少的少，全靠我和孩子妈俩人支撑着。那时我们生产队地少人多，又都是丘陵，大部分是荒地。为了养活全家，我几次想在荒丘上开块地种点农作物。可别人看到后就批你，踩你，把你当做'资本主义尾巴'而又是批来又是斗。无奈，我也出去当拨浪鼓手，去外地'鸡毛换糖'，挑了8年货郎担，最远跑到湖南。1978年开始做些小生意，把上海市场上的卫生纸、彩色小纽扣，贩到江西、湖南山区等。那时我到上海商店买女人用的10个小镜子，商店的服务员瞪大眼睛就是不卖你。我只好让买菜的老太太帮着去买，多出几毛钱给老太太作为报酬。1980年我被评为'万元户'，乡里送来'万元户'牌匾时我怕得要命，因为那时人们的思想还处在对什么都拿不准的年代。就在我当'万元户'的当口，有一次我到宁波进了一批塑料气球，上义乌马路市场批销，结果碰上了'打击投机倒把办公室'的工作人员，他们瞪着眼睛来查我。从那起我又不敢做生意了，回家想种地又没地，我们整个义乌人多地少，我所在的村更是这样。饭总要吃吧？于是只好又去做手艺。一直到1984年以后，政策明朗了，我才又开始重新经商，接着是办厂，搞畜毛产品加工等，生意越做越大了。我有3个儿子1个女儿，那时孩子们大了，他们便一起与我做生意。我俩儿子脑子灵，他们敢作敢为，利用广州和义乌两地优势，生意越做越活，越做越大，当然钱也赚了不少。赚了大钱到底还干什么呢？我对儿子说，我们家祖辈是农民，过去连饭都吃不上，现在有钱了，搞其他投资自然可能赚钱更多些，但在外面赚得再多，如果不把家乡建设好，就对不起养育我们的土地。儿子很懂事，听我这番话后，钱赚得最多的大儿子说，爸爸，我明白你的意思，儿子一定要让家乡这块土地成为流金的地方。正好这时政府号召我们开发农业资源优势，于是我们全家一商议，决定买下现在已经建成农庄的这块30多公顷的土地……”楼瑛财抬腿用力踩一踩脚下的沃土，说，“这儿以前可是一片只长草不长粮的荒丘呀！但我们仅仅用了两年时间就把它变了样。” 我看到楼瑛财深情地蹲下身子，轻轻地抚摸着嫩绿的禾苗，眼圈里滚动着晶莹的泪水。“我常常做梦都在想，这眼前辽阔的一大片土地是不是我楼瑛财楼家的呀？有时我独自在办公室时常偷偷拿出政府颁发的土地使用证，左看右看，看个不够。你知道为什么吗？因为我没想到党的政策会这么好，让一个过去追求了几十年想有块地种着养活全家的'土地迷'终究圆了自己的梦，而且是超乎想象的梦。你说我们当农民的还有比这更高兴的事吗？”楼瑛财的话强烈地感染了我，这使我又能从另一个方面感受到义乌市的决策者在领导他们的人民进行建设中国特色社会主义进程时，为什么能以比别人快出几倍的速度在前进，归结点便是他们所作出的每一个决策都是从百姓的最终利益着想。 “听说你的儿子到美国去学习了？” “是。因为这个庄园是他投资的，他是老板，我是给他打工的呀！”老楼说话很幽默。后来我才知道他真的是在为“福田庄园”董事长的大儿子打工。 interesting.我问：“你儿子一个月给你老爷子多少钱？” “1500元。” "Is there a bonus?" “这得看年度效益。” “情愿给儿子干吗？为什么自己不继续做生意了？” “年岁大了，就再没有年轻人闯劲儿足。再说儿子这一大摊子得有人给他盯着不是？” “你儿子到美国学什么？” “学农业综合开发。” “听说光学费一个月就要4000美元？” "yes." “花这么高代价值得吗？” “当然。我们搞庄园是为了实践中国农业现代化的综合开发，这就得应用先进科技和管理体系，你看，我这么大年岁还在学习操作计算机模拟。新时代的中国农民庄园，可不是过去的'地主老财'那一套呀！”楼瑛财自己哈哈大笑起来。 在那开怀爽朗的笑声里，我强烈地感受到一个拥有土地的农民对自己的选择和未来所充满的自豪感。听陪同我的市委宣传部的同志介绍，在义乌像楼瑛财家这样的大农庄已有几十个，他们或从事农副产品开发种植，或从事禽牧业养殖与加工业，或从事连片的水面资源开发，或承包整个荒丘秃岭进行花林果树的商品化耕作开发……而正是一大批像楼氏家人那样敢于花大钱并根据当地实际，按照现代市场经济的走向规划设计出的一个个大手笔蓝图，使得传统意义上的市场概念，在义乌这块已经勃发热火朝天的商品经济土地上，又有了一个更为宽泛、更为广阔的搏杀与竞争的大战场。这就是赵金勇、周启水等一班人，刻意要将一个具有更强实力、全面拓展的义乌带进新世纪的两大战略措施之一。 Where are you from？（你是哪里人？） I'm from Yiwu，China.（我来自中国义乌。） I'm a business man.（我是一位商人。） I'm a business woman.（我是一位女商人。） 那天我们从“福田庄园”回到城里，已是繁星闪烁、霓虹灯四射的夜晚了。在一个已经收摊的门市部前，两位女商家在用英语对话。一问才知道，她们正准备随团到南非做生意。 “你们过去是农民吗？” “是。8年前我还在家里种地呢！”其中一位灵巧的姑娘抢过话头对我说。 “义乌市场的生意这么红火，为什么还要到外面甚至是国外去做呢？” “为什么不呢？市场是没有界限的，我们义乌人生意做得好，就是从来不把自己划死在一个固定的地域，只要那儿有钱赚，有生意做，就是我们义乌人要去的地方。” 这是义乌人的又一个特色意识！ 我早听说中国的生意人中，浙江人是最吃苦耐劳和最能生根结果的。打改革开放后，早期的外出做工赚钱的要算安徽的小保姆和浙江的修鞋匠，后来便是四川的打工仔。在这三股人潮中，浙江人最精，他们不仅仅是以出卖劳力挣个饭钱，而且靠自己的手艺与才智赚钱。在浙江人中，温州人是以自己制作产品而著称，义乌人则把商品交易做到每一个角落而见长。拿温州人与义乌人相比较，前者更多是依靠在自己的土地上，用制作出精良多样的产品来扩充自己的实力，后者的义乌人当然也有很多自己独立制作的产品而称雄市场，但他们更多的是依靠市场直接进入商品交易的流通过程，而这个过程其实是整个商品市场中最活跃最快捷又能产生最大利润的环节，这就是为什么义乌人之所以在连温州那样的地理优势都不具备的条件下，能称雄浙中乃至大中华的由来。 在80年代最初时，也就是在义乌市场刚刚开始形成阶段，义乌便有人用塑料袋和双肩扛着，远涉千山万水，不顾生命危险，奔至西藏拉萨做生意。若干年后，在世界屋脊有了第一个小商品市场，而这种被西方经济学家称奇的“现代文明与原始地理相融合的奇迹”，着实让中国以外的人们瞪大眼睛惊叹了好一阵。这件事其实仅是一个义乌农民促成的，而像这样的叫“老外们”甚至中国人自己都感到惊诧的事，在义乌人眼里实在太寻常不过。义乌的主人告诉我，凡有人群和可能形成市场的地方，我们义乌人就必去插足。 Why? 很简单。做生意，追求的是有没有市场。义乌人的前辈在缺乏交通工具时，他们的“鸡毛换糖”能走出百里千里之外的跨省地域，而今天我们有了四通八达的交通以及多种多样的交通工具，他们义乌人便把双足插遍可能形成市场的每一个角落。说到这里，我不得不说到余汉平。 余汉平是谁？余汉平是一个普普通通的义乌农民，可余汉平又是现在中国西部最有影响的巨商。说他是义乌的一个普普通通农民，是因为现年43岁的余汉平式的人物在义乌很多，就是像他这个年龄成了“亿万富翁”以及他成功的经历，也与义乌富商们大体相近。说他是西部最有影响的巨商，是因为在中国目前还没有像他那样勇敢而有效地开辟出了一条将东部的现代化小商品源源不断地送到中国大西北的“新丝绸之路”，以及他极其成功创办了一个规模巨大的“兰州义乌商贸城”。 1997年10月28日，这一日子对兰州人来说并没有什么特殊纪念意义，但这一天由于一个义乌人在这儿投资了一个亿的钱办了一个日后影响兰州人生活，甚至影响整个西北人生活的大市场，使这一天因而变得有些特殊。这个名叫“兰州义乌商贸城”的大市场自然就是余汉平的。 义乌人为什么要到大西北另辟商市，这是义乌中国小商品市场的经营者们大智大勇的战略决策。从赵金勇书记和周启水市长的口中，我不止一次听他们这样盘算他们的大略：义乌要成为中国式的“曼哈顿”，第一步就要自己有个永不沉落的有形市场——已建了近20年的大市场；第二步就是把整个义乌的每一寸土地变成市场经济的基地和直接的出产品、搞交易和从事流通的全方位市场；第三步就是以义乌现在的“中国小商品城”和义乌全市的每一块土地、每一个企业与家庭都当做大后方，然后利用义乌人的经商经验与精神，在各地建立义乌市场的无数只“巡洋舰”与无数只“航空母舰”。 余汉平是完全由自己航行出去的一只“西北号”义乌航空母舰。 余汉平选择西北市场，就像义乌人选择建立小商品市场一样聪明。义乌的小商品到目前为止，绝大部分是满足中国普通百姓生活所需的物品，所以它一直欣欣向荣。因为12亿中国人的内需市场就是一个让全世界所有客商感到眼红的肥肉，而在中国的内需市场中，辽阔的大西北便是中国内需市场中最具潜力的市场。义乌人运用了邓小平理论建立起了中国小商品市场并繁荣和富裕了人民，余汉平则运用了义乌经商办小商品市场的经验，成功地在大西北再度实践了邓小平走中国特色社会主义的思想理论。 “西北是什么？西北是中国未来的希望。西北的希望在哪里？西北的希望在开发，开发的先导在流通。”余汉平干的就是流通。他把自己的资金重重地投到了西北，就是因为大西北是块商品经济刚刚苏醒的处女地，它有太多的诱惑和太多的梦可做，当然也有太多的钱可赚。到达一定境界的巨商们对赚多少钱有时已经显得并不太看重了，看重的是自己的决策对头与否以及自己的行为对民族发展有没有利了。 听听兰州人对义乌人来办市场是怎么说的。 兰州人说，我们这儿几十年来一直是在计划经济下生活的，虽然改革开放也有20年了，但由于我们地处大西北，没有多少财力和物力像沿海地区发展那样快，单纯靠国家有限的投入已经不是快捷向现代化进军的唯一出路了。而浙江义乌人到兰州办商城，一方面在极短的时间内把资金投入很大的建设项目，建在了我们的土地上，又直接把沿海的商品带入了我们大西北，并以最适合大西北百姓经济承受力的价格进入千家万户。而更为重要的是他们给西北人带来了东部人的开拓精神与市场经济意识，这是最宝贵的财富，它给予我们的要远比商场本身的意义大得多。 余汉平的这艘“西北号”义乌航空母舰已经成功地停泊在西北重镇兰州，连续几年创下了甘肃省和西北地区室内市场销售额第一的纪录，成为兰州人必去和引以自豪的一个大市场。而余汉平办这座商城对远在数千里之外的老家的义乌市场本身，也带来好处多多。首先是一批义乌商贩把赚钱的机会延伸到了大西北，并且钱要比在义乌当地赚得还多；其次是义乌作为中国小商品城的中心市场，它的货源能得到更加合理的输放。现在，余汉平的“西北号”航空母舰不仅开到了兰州，今年，在建国五十周年之际，又将在青海省会西宁市再出现一所投资7000多万元的“西北号”子舰。然而这对余汉平来说仅仅是开始，在他的办公室里有一幅十分醒目的蓝图，那上面是他公司发展和准备要占领的市场的示意图，另有一句豪言：立足兰州，辐射西北，服务大众——是我们不变的宗旨。（余汉平现在商城不仅办到了中国西部数个省城，而且办到了韩国的首尔。他在那里办的商城面积达5万多平方米，为当地最气派的中国商品城。3亿多资产，5000多员工，这就是今天的余汉平。） 其实在每一个义乌人心头都有像余汉平那样一幅幅充满激情与理想的奋斗蓝图，那就是尽力地占领可以占领的一切市场，为自己创造财富，为他人谋取幸福，为社会作出贡献。 义乌现有人口65万，除去老人和儿童，那么将有近40万人，而这40万人中间，再除去国家公务员和国有企事业单位职工，在剩下的30多万人中，将有60％以上的人在从商，而这部分人中，有近五分之一的人是在非义乌本土的外