Chapter 15 Chapter 13 is not called "town", but "park", the English abbreviation is "sip"

For Suzhou people, 1993 was a very busy year after the reform and opening up, and they were always in the midst of exciting excitement.This year, the leaders of Jiangsu Province were also involved in the busyness of this big project of Sino-Singapore cooperation. One of the busiest people was Chen Huanyou, then Secretary of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee and Governor of Jiangsu Province. In May, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew was invited to visit Suzhou according to the scheduled plan. This was also a critical moment for Singapore to formally confirm the implementation of the project in Suzhou.There is no doubt that when Lee Kuan Yew arrived in Suzhou, Comrade Chen Huanyou, the main person in charge of Jiangsu Province, had to come forward to receive him.

Governor Chen is busy. On May 10th, Jiangsu Province held an opening ceremony for a trade fair in Hong Kong. Celebrities such as Li Ka-shing, Run Run Shaw, Fok Ying-tung and other Hong Kong tycoons will be present.Without the presence of these tycoons, Jiangsu Province's economic and trade fair in Hong Kong would be much inferior, so Governor Chen Huanyou must also participate.But at the same time, Lee Kuan Yew was going to Suzhou again. If Singapore's "fat" invested in Suzhou was lost, it would really become a "historical sinner"!Chen Huanyou had no choice but to put aside the affairs of Hong Kong, but felt that it was inappropriate, so he had to make a special trip to Hong Kong to visit the homes of the distinguished guests to explain and express his apologies, and then sent Wang Rongbing, the newly appointed deputy governor, to take his place. He attended the opening ceremony.Chen Huanyou thought that in this way he could smoothly receive Lee Kuan Yew and his party in Suzhou on the 10th.Unexpectedly, the Central Committee issued an urgent notice to him: General Secretary Jiang Zemin held a symposium for secretaries and governors of six provinces and one city in East China in Shanghai on the morning of the 10th.Chen Huanyou had no choice but to arrange this way. He flew from Hong Kong to Shanghai on the night of the 9th, and asked General Secretary Jiang Zemin for leave the next day at the venue, saying that he was going back to Suzhou to receive Lee Kuan Yew and his party.General Secretary Jiang Zemin agreed with Chen Huanyou's request for leave, and asked Chen to send greetings to Mr. Lee Kuan Yew on his behalf, and also hoped to report the situation of the talks between Suzhou and Lee Kuan Yew in time.

"Governor Chen! I'm so glad to see you!" On the morning of the 11th, Lee Kuan Yew saw Chen Huanyou walking hurriedly in the garden of Zhuhui Hotel in Suzhou, and he happily shook hands with him.When Chen Huanyou explained the situation and apologized to Li Zizheng and Wang Dingchang, Lee Kuan Yew happily shook his hand again and said, "Governor Chen is a man of credibility. Thank you for your hard work." After breakfast, there will be formal talks.Apart from Chen Huanyou and other provincial leaders on the Chinese side, there are comrades from Suzhou.After the one-day meeting, Suzhou Municipal Government and Singapore Labor Fund (International) Corporation signed a cooperation agreement, which is the initial cooperation signing document of Suzhou Industrial Park.Suzhou Municipal Party Secretary Wang Minsheng and Mayor Zhang Xinsheng attended the signing ceremony.The cooperation between China and New Zealand has already attracted the attention of the outside world at this time, especially the journalists in the news circle can't wait, they hope to release the news as soon as possible.But Chen Huanyou has some concerns. Although Lee Kuan Yew made it very clear and firm about investing 20 billion U.S. dollars in such a large project, it is after all an intentional matter. Therefore, Chen Huanyou suggested that the press should not report it for the time being, and even if the 20 billion U.S. dollars The investment can be implemented, and the work must be approved by the central government. At that time, the country had regulations. Foreign investment projects worth tens of millions of dollars in foreign cooperation must be approved by the central government before they can be implemented, let alone 20 billion now!

"I agree with Governor Chen's opinion, the press should not talk about it for the time being." Lee Kuan Yew thinks that Governor Chen is considerate. Unexpectedly, that night, a Chinese reporter sent a message to a Hong Kong newspaper: Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore and Governor of Jiangsu Province Chen Huanyou signed a $20 billion project in Suzhou.Once the news was disclosed, it immediately caused shock at home and abroad.Chen Huanyou was so angry that he didn't make a single point, because first, he specifically requested confidentiality to the journalists at the signing site, but some people didn't listen to the "greeting"; second, there was a deeper reason: in 1988, when The newly established Hainan Province has designated a development zone on the Yangpu Peninsula, which is wholly owned by Hong Kong Kumagai Group Company to attract foreign investment; this is the first project to introduce foreign capital to develop a large area of ​​land since the founding of New China. The outside world hyped up the news that "Hainan sells its land", but in the end, this project was demolished.Chen Huanyou has to be worried that similar things will happen in Suzhou, and Singapore’s $20 billion investment in Suzhou is much larger than the foreign-funded project in Yangpu, Hainan, and Suzhou is the hinterland of China and the best in China. Once this is said to be "selling the country", the troubles will definitely be beyond imagination.

Governor Chen was worried that Lee Kuan Yew and other Singaporeans were also afraid that things would be messed up.Not to mention the Suzhou people, once such a big project fails, it will be difficult to make up for crying dry tears. But the reporters ignored what the officials said. They tapped on the computer smartly, and with one click, they spread a huge piece of news to the whole world. Since then, the China-Singapore cooperation project has been announced to the world, and Suzhou people and Singaporeans have all been exposed to the world.Success or failure is in the eyes of others...

The project is too big to be carried by Suzhou people alone.So Chen Huanyou sent a fax report to General Secretary Jiang Zemin that afternoon after Lee Kuan Yew and the others signed the contract with the Suzhou people.A few days ago, when Lee Kuan Yew went to Beijing, when General Secretary Jiang Zemin met him, Lee Kuan Yew asked Jiang Zemin for advice: Should it be placed in Shandong or in Shanghai?Is it in Wuxi or Suzhou?Jiang Zemin smiled and said, as a leader of China, it is inconvenient for me to speak clearly, because the palms and backs of the hands are full of flesh, but if you ask for my opinion, as a person, I think it is better to put it in Suzhou, because the quality of the labor force there is relatively high. There are many champions and candidates who come from there, and Suzhou is close to Shanghai, so the transportation is convenient.Lee Kuan Yew laughed and said: I think the same as you think.We will be in Suzhou!

Secretary Wang Minsheng, Mayor Zhang Xinsheng and other Suzhou people were very happy and excited when they heard Jiang Zemin's "palm of palm and back of hand", because in the fierce competition for Sino-Singapore cooperation projects, Suzhou was the final winner. Competitive victory is reflected in soft power! Paradise Suzhou, you are loved because of this!But Suzhou still needs to work hard. The times have developed. The pattern of China and the world in the late 20th century has shown new characteristics of the times. not enough. Suzhou people are also aware of this, so their desire for Sino-Singapore cooperation projects exceeds all expectations.At least this kind of desire and expectation was like this at the time.

20 billion US dollars!Isn't it equivalent to rebuilding a "foreign Suzhou"?Suzhou people will laugh out loud when they think about it while hiding under the covers! "I support the cooperation with Singapore." Li Peng, then Prime Minister, said this to comrades in Jiangsu and Suzhou. Zhu Rongji, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier, also paid close attention to and supported the China-New Zealand cooperation projects.When Governor Chen Huanyou reported to him that he hoped to ask the relevant central ministries and commissions to assist in this project, Vice Premier Zhu immediately appointed Hu Ping, Director of the Special Economic Zone Office of the State Council, as the "consultant" for negotiations between Suzhou and Singapore.

Li Lanqing, then Vice Premier, and Wu Yi, Minister of Foreign Trade, were even more staunch and powerful supporters. In October of this year, when Chen Huanyou led a delegation to visit Singapore, just as the provincial leaders gathered at the Central Party School to participate in the study class of the third volume of "Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping", Comrade Hu Jintao heard that Chen Huanyou was going to Singapore to discuss Sino-Singapore cooperation projects. Immediately agreed as a "special case". The Chinese negotiating delegation to New Zealand this time is very large. In addition to the leaders of the central government and Jiangsu Province, the main leaders of Suzhou City also went, and formed several working groups.

As soon as the delegation arrived in Singapore, a catastrophic fire broke out in Nanjing. It was the oil storage tank of Jinling Petrochemical's Nanjing refinery that exploded.After Deputy Secretary Sun Jiazheng, who was in charge of the work in the province, reported to Chen Huanyou who was far away in Singapore, Chen Huanyou was so anxious that he either left or stayed, and finally had to call Premier Li Peng directly.Premier Li Peng said: You stay in Singapore, I will send Comrade Luo Gan to deal with the Nanjing fire. "Comrade Huanyou, the fire at the Nanjing oil refinery has been extinguished. You can negotiate in Singapore with peace of mind, and come back after signing the contract!" A few days later, Comrade Luo Gan, who was directing the firefighting in Nanjing, called Chen Huanyou.

"Thank you, thank you central government! Thank you central government for supporting Jiangsu's work, thank you for supporting this project in Suzhou!" Chen Huanyou's eyes rolled when he heard Luo Gan's words. Suzhou people who participated in the negotiations in Singapore were all moved when they heard about this incident. "It can be said that every step of the construction of Suzhou Industrial Park and its future success have been infiltrated with the kind care and special attention of the central leadership. The experience of Suzhou Industrial Park that has been transplanted by many countries in the world, without the direct support and It’s unimaginable to care about it.” Wang Jinhua, the current chairman of the Suzhou Municipal People’s Political Consultative Conference, said emotionally more than once. Wu Kequan, who was called by Mayor Zhang Xinsheng to the park to make preparations at that time, was a member of the negotiations in Suzhou to Singapore. He also served as one of the leaders of the business negotiation team. He still remembers this "difficult negotiation". "We didn't know much about the real intentions of Mr. Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore at that time. To be honest, at the beginning we focused on the relatively simple amount of foreign capital investment of 20 billion U.S. dollars, but we didn't know much about the "Singapore" software transplantation that Lee Kuan Yew and the others valued. 'This thing." Wu Kequan said frankly in an interview with me. So what are Singaporeans going to do in Suzhou?People in Suzhou slowly figured it out later, and only after they figured it out did they really feel that Singapore does have a lot of good things that China, which is just starting out, can learn from. "It is one of the important tasks of China's modernization drive to absorb and learn from all the achievements of civilization created by human society, and to absorb and learn from all advanced management methods and management methods that reflect the laws of modern production in countries around the world today, including capitalist developed countries." The words Deng Xiaoping said during his southern tour have a special and intimate experience for Suzhou people. In fact, during the negotiation process of the Chinese delegation to Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew realized that the Chinese people misunderstood the content and real intention of "cooperation" in his mind at the beginning. The US$20 billion investment is still our experience in Singapore. It is precisely because of some inconsistencies in understanding and understanding that the negotiations between Chinese and New Zealand negotiators have also seen fierce confrontation and see-saw scenes on several occasions. Let me talk about the name of the cooperation project first. The Chinese side thinks that you pay the money and I allocate the land, isn't it a joint venture project bigger than Kunshan's "self-financed development zone"!Then it should be called "Suzhou Development Zone"! Singapore disagrees.It is said that there is a development zone in Singapore called "Jurong Industrial Town", which is very successful. We just want to move the model of "Jurong Industrial Town" to your Suzhou, and it should be called "Suzhou Industrial Town". The Suzhou people immediately said no.Think: There are too many towns in China, and "town" is an administrative unit in China, so why should the name be corrected for a mere small town? The news also attracted a lot of criticism.Someone said: Suzhou wants to cut a piece of land and become a "colony" of Singapore. It is now a "town" and will become a "county" in the future. Finally, Suzhou will truly become a colony of Singapore! Suzhou International Expo Center This word also reached the ears of Lee Kuan Yew.Lee Kuan Yew quickly explained: "I am a small country, how can I have the right to establish a colony in your China? You are wrong!" It doesn't matter if you think wrong, the crux of the problem is that the name of this cooperation project is also very important.Without a proper title, there will be trouble in doing things in China. So experts from China and New Zealand went back and forth, negotiated repeatedly, and finally reached a consensus, calling it a "park"!The advantage of this is that it is neither the usual "development zone" nor the administrative concept of "town". "Park" can become a more appropriate concept of economic geography, and more importantly, it can correspond to and include the "software transplantation" of Singapore and Lee Kuan Yew's management models and management experience.Parks can be substantive industrial and economic content such as economic development zones, or they can be independent and distinctive social areas. "Very well, let's call it 'Park'!" It is said that this "Park" was approved by the highest level in China. Since then, Suzhou Industrial Park has been officially identified as the name of the Sino-Singapore cooperation project. Its English name is: Suzhou Industry Park, referred to as "SIP". Now the whole world knows "SIP". So what is the content of Singapore's "software" that Lee Kuan Yew has always emphasized and advocated?People in Suzhou at that time, including Chinese high-level officials and experts, were not very clear about it, or only had a vague idea.In fact, when Deng Xiaoping visited Singapore, he was already aware of this "software" of Singapore. He said it in straightforward words: Singapore, which is dominated by a capitalist market economy, "manages well."The word "management" and "strict management" are the core and essence of Lee Kuan Yew and Singapore's software for running the country.Deng Xiaoping attached great importance to which path China's reform and opening up should take.In the late 1970s and early 1980s, regardless of his old age, he personally visited Western developed countries many times to experience and understand the successful experience of developed capitalist countries and the reality of social development, and concluded that China can also engage in a market economy. And the conclusion that we must take the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics. In 1978, Deng Xiaoping visited Singapore. This was the second time he visited this island country in his life. The first time was when he was young and he passed by while studying in France. Singapore was also very backward at that time.But in 1978, Deng Xiaoping was secretly surprised by Singapore's level of modernization and country management.So in the comparison, Deng Xiaoping chose Singapore's development model as a model for China's development and modernization.And Singapore, which has a traditional friendship and the same ethnic culture with China, also chose China out of its own national interests, and chose Suzhou in China. "SIP" makes the common choice of the two countries a possibility to turn the dream into reality. However, the Suzhou people and the Singaporeans initially went through a lot of trouble to reach a consensus on this "software".For example, Chinese people have no idea what the "park" is like.So the Singaporeans spent US$100,000 to make three models. After looking at it from the Chinese side, I don't know which one to finalize.Later, Deng Xiaoping intervened, and finally the matter was confirmed through Deng Xiaoping's son, Deng Pufang, who visited Singapore in the name of the China Disabled Persons' Federation. After the cooperation enters the substantive stage, the differences and integrations between the two sides in terms of understanding and consensus become more complicated. The Singaporeans told the Suzhou people that you must figure out the situation in the 70-square-kilometer "park" as soon as possible within a month or two. "One or two months? How is this possible? It will take a year just to measure!" Zhou Zhifang, one of the business negotiators, used to be the director of the construction committee in Suzhou City. He has done planning work and knows that 70 What is the concept of the situation within a square kilometer area, not to mention the bad place of Jinji Lake, which is densely covered with lakes and ponds. According to China's measurement level at that time, it would really take a year and a half to produce a piece of material that Singaporeans wanted. "Don't worry, we have advanced equipment." The Singaporean said to the Suzhou people.Later, they really did it, and in about 45 days, they got a clear picture of the situation within 70 square kilometers, and drew more than 1,000 data maps of various situations.It came in March when the cauliflower was in bloom, and it was finished in May.Suzhou people have seen what advanced productivity and operational capabilities are, and they admire Singaporeans from the bottom of their hearts. Regarding the "software" issue, it is also the core and most important part of the China-New Zealand negotiations.This is a matter between countries, because it involves related issues between two countries with different backgrounds and different systems.The "software" that Singaporeans refer to actually includes three levels.The first level is mainly reflected in short-term and long-term planning of urban development, development and utilization of land, construction and management of infrastructure and living service facilities, environmental governance and protection, collection, processing and application of information, publicity of investment, network Organization, marketing methods, incentive measures, etc. belong to the category of general economic management and are necessary for building an international modern park, which can be completely introduced.The second level is mainly the experience of regulating the market in Singapore’s Jurong Industrial Town, and the practice of promoting orderly competition, mutual cooperation, and harmony and unity among enterprises in economic activities. It belongs to the category of economic system reform, and it is also feasible to introduce it.The third level mainly refers to experience and practices in legislation, law enforcement, clean government and anti-corruption, as well as culture and education, which can be partially absorbed.The Singapore side believes that since we are "transplanting software", we must operate the park according to Singapore's practice.How could Suzhou people dare to agree casually-a very sensitive matter was always on the minds of Suzhou people at that time, that is, the issue of sovereignty. A central leader once said this when he heard about Suzhou and Singapore talking about this park cooperation project: Except for sovereignty, other things can be discussed.The implication is that you can talk about cooperation with Singaporeans on anything, but you can't have any problems that damage China's sovereignty even a little bit. People in Suzhou understand that there are no purely economic issues between countries, especially between socialist countries and capitalist countries!Even economic issues may be entangled with political and sovereignty issues. What's more, the content of Singapore's "software" is very specific and detailed about society, culture, education, etc. There are many troubles in it! "What? Software? Call it software after bringing all their capitalism over? Hmph, you Suzhou people should be careful!" In Beijing, when Suzhou people introduced and asked for opinions from relevant parties, they got such questions. Even questioning, not a few, some words really made people sweat after listening to them at the time. In order to deal with the transplantation of "software" from Singapore, the Suzhou Municipal Government set up a "reference office" under the preparatory group of the park.The sign was hanging there. A leader from Beijing stared at him and said: What a shit brand! Seeing this, the Suzhou people didn't know what to say. Although the brand of "Learning Office" has not been taken off, it has been shaken by wind and rain several times. In 1993, for the Suzhou Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government, for the construction of this industrial park, on the one hand, they had to bargain with Singapore, and on the other hand, they had to explain and even struggle with domestic incomprehension and opposition from many parties. Squeeze left and right.However, under the leadership and support of the central and provincial party committees, the municipal party committee and the municipal government have never wavered. "It's just that the days of wind and rain are very difficult. If it weren't for the modernization of Suzhou and the happiness of future generations, we really wanted to get rid of the stall at that time." An "old park" in Suzhou said to me. "In the negotiations with Singapore, the first thing we encountered were three tough bones, namely: infrastructure, land prices and public management. These three things must be completed by our side. We have talked over and over again, but we can't agree." Wu Kequan said, “I was already 62 years old at the time. I didn’t want to participate in the preparatory work of the park after receiving Lee Kuan Yew and other Singaporean guests as instructed by Mayor Zhang Xinsheng. But it was because the above-mentioned matters were very difficult to negotiate. It was China's national conditions and social conditions at that time that did not allow us to take such a big step at once, but Singaporeans refused to do it. He said that their "software" needs to be in place in one step, so the municipal party committee later decided to transfer 14 people from various agencies to form an industrial The preparatory committee of the park is personally in charge of the mayor, and I am one of the persons in charge." This is the city committee's decision. When Wu Kequan learned about this, he approached Mayor Zhang Xinsheng and refused to do anything. "There's no reason, it's just that I'm old, let the young people do it!" Wu Kequan said to the mayor. Zhang Xinsheng shook his head and said: "I understand what you think about Old Wu, you don't want to be so smug at such an age. No, who would you do if you don't? Just rely on my mayor, the 'polished commander'? Besides, you He was recommended by me in front of Lee Kuan Yew, and he was also nominated by Senior Minister Li, whoever you don’t want to do!” Zhang Xinsheng and Wu Kequan worked together on the “development zone” and developed a relationship, and he just didn’t want to let go of the “Kunshan Development King”. Wu Kequan had no choice but to say: "Then I will be in charge of 'software', and I will work for three years at most." Zhang Xinsheng smiled, and patted him on the shoulder: "Okay, just three years, the 'software' is all handed over to you!"