Chapter 17 Chapter 4: The Chinese "Manhattan" Rising on the Field Ridge

During my days in Yiwu, there was a scene that made me very excited: that night I went to the Municipal Science and Technology Association Building to observe farmers learning foreign languages.This in itself is quite new.Once upon a time, Chinese farmers were still working hard to repair the earth with their faces facing the loess and their backs to the sky. Later, the farmers in southern Jiangsu first embarked on a road of township enterprises, and then there were small babysitters from Anhui, Zhejiang and Wenzhou shoemakers who entered the city. In recent years, there have been stories about farmers setting up businesses and markets in order to compete with urban residents, but it is the first time I have heard that farmers have reached the level where they need to learn foreign languages ​​to do business!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 the central Zhejiang area far away from Kyoto!Because it also has wide streets criss-crossing like the coasts of the Western Hemisphere; there are also people and traffic crowded with high-rise buildings, the brightly lit never-night city among groups of mansions; …Actually, I knew at the time that this was because I was intoxicated by the new city of Yiwu.But in the second day after dawn, I still feel like I am in Manhattan!That’s right, the slight difference is that the Manhattan I saw two years ago on the east coast of the Atlantic was surrounded by tidal seas, but now the Manhattan in front of me is surrounded by commercial seas—the commercial tide seas.

Manhattan is the business capital of the world. I am excited and proud of my discovery because China's Manhattan has not only risen before us, but has also become the business 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, who doubted that Singapore, one of the four Asian tigers, is a small country that is rich in Singapore?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 straightforwardly 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 17.79 million yuan. Yuan, and the per capita annual 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 for measuring the main social development of a region have changed by 90 times, 25 times and 30 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 realized 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 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 what happened last year. When you hear how much you earn, you will be shocked when you hear it.I don't think it's strange anymore, because in Yiwu, 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 is 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...

On March 30, 1999, when I was watching the news broadcast after dinner in the evening, a friendly name and brand suddenly appeared on the screen - Dachen Town and Nenglida from Yiwu, Zhejiang Province were listed on the list of CCTV .The former Dachen Town is one of the more than 20 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, which is 150 million pieces a year. If such a quantity is spread out, it is not possible to submerge Manhattan, New York on the west coast in its soft warmth. Weaving a beautiful dream for Eastern Manhattan.

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 moving legend: more than ten years ago, there was a peasant woman from Dachen Town who walked 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 by herself. , and sewed a blouse overnight.On the first day after entering the gate, the hostess of the city happily pulled her single clothes, 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 help her sew a smock.Great, my co-workers said yes, they would each like to ask you to make one. How about 5 yuan a piece of wages?One day, the mistress of the city brought back a pile of fabrics and said to the peasant woman with joy on her face.OK, allow me a few days.The peasant woman in Dachen town readily took it, and a few days later, she handed over several sewn smocks to the hostess, and the hostess happily handed over 50 yuan to her.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 the girls in every village in Dachen Town wore embroidered shirts.Later, some people brought this kind of embroidered shirts outside and into the city. It doesn't matter in this area. After a while, countless handy peasant women joined the ranks of embroidered shirts.The clothing business in Dachen Town was formed at that time.Later men also joined the ranks of the clothing business.The elders do things differently. This is like saying that Chinese women take care of housework and can cook, but most of the serious cooks are men. This is because dexterity and technology are two concepts.The skills that have entered the threshold should really be discussed by the old 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 accounted for the majority of the people who became big, and Dachen Town was no exception in the process of becoming the hometown of shirts.

Shirtland is more grand than I imagined.Xu Jiangqi, the young secretary of the township party committee, is not like some township cadres who will give you a mountain of data such as annual statistical tables as soon as they open their mouths. He pointed to the streets with rows of high-rise buildings and asked me if his place looks like a 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 standards of the city, it seemed that there was less noise and more quiet here. Although there were a lot of cars and people on the wide street, it was obviously well-organized and there were no annoying things. crowded.So I have 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 when he heard this, and said that he was satisfied, because he had made such a bet with others: if someone can describe their Dachen Town as a city, then he would come down from the city to the small town to become a city. Secretary is a kind of promotion.Now that he got the promotion quote from me, he is naturally a little bit pleased with himself.Secretary Xiao Xu used to be a genius in the Propaganda Department of the Municipal Party Committee, so he was very humorous.But in my heart, I really feel the greatness of our Dachen Town.He said affectionately that in the past when agriculture learned from Dazhai, the Dachen people who faced the loess all the year round and turned their backs to the sky also showed up at times. It is still empty, and when the children get married, they still have to rely on the few leg money earned by the old father who shakes the rattle drum from going out 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 a few households united to a large household independent combat situation, it has developed to the current situation where the group and famous brand product companies 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 Dachen Town as the hometown of shirts in China today, and thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises are the cornerstone and the surrounding green land and gardens that set off the golden wall hall of the hometown of shirts in China... So there are so many mistakes The formal structure of the real estate industry has formed Dachen Town today, which is impenetrable and a veritable hometown of Chinese shirts.

Secretary Xiao Xu pointed to the streets with almost all new buildings and the buildings on both sides and said: Farmers now know what a market is.We now have more than 400 garment-making enterprises in the town. In order to improve their market competitiveness, almost all the family-owned factories that used to be scattered in various villages have moved to the town, and more than 60 large enterprises are basically concentrated in the town.Almost all of us here used to be a farmer, but now it is a brand or even an enterprise with dozens of brands.Every time they moved a household into the town, Dachenxin Town was extended for a while, with a larger scale and a modernization.This kind of gathering in line with market rules has brought about the urbanization of small town construction, the scale of enterprise management, the industrialization of local advantages, the speediness of supply and marketing transportation, the competition of the survival of the fittest, and the formation of a good market for the entire Dachen Town. climate and conditions.And the marketization formed by Dachen Town itself has brought countless benefits to the original advantages of our shirt town: the interoperability of information, the benign adjustment of prices, the convenience of mergers and acquisitions between enterprises and the joint construction The image and influence of Shirt Town.Just a few years ago, who knew our small town of Dachen, even the name of the city of Yiwu was not known in the whole country.But the situation is quite different now. Those in the clothing industry, especially the shirt industry, will suffer a great loss if they don’t know or understand the market conditions in Dachen Town.On the other hand, it is the market influence of the hometown of shirts that makes businessmen in the shirt industry from all over the country and even Southeast Asia go here. Dachen Town itself has become the market center of the entire shirt industry and plays the role of the first market. effect.

How did you adapt to this development? This time, Secretary Xiao Xu showed me a written material, which was a detailed plan of 18 infrastructure investment and implementation plans, responsible persons, etc. in Dachen Town in 1999.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 basic construction of the town, so that the town can truly become a shirt town with not only the advantages of industry, but more importantly, the establishment of a market for shirt towns. Advantage.He said. A town-level unit spends 100 million yuan for infrastructure construction every year. Where does the money come from? Of course, you must have strength first!Xiao Xu said proudly that 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, the economic achievements at the town level are already remarkable.Substantial development of township construction, but relying solely on the strength of the government is obviously insufficient, but our potential lies in the money in the hands of farmers!The enterprises here are all individuals and private owners. Today’s individuals and private owners are not ordinary. They have assets ranging from tens of millions to hundreds of millions.For example, among the 18 projects we will carry out this year, 50 million yuan will be funded by the town government, and the other 50 million yuan will depend on our individual and private owners! From the fact that the people in Niansanli took the initiative to fund 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 to contribute to the collective and public welfare. Dachen Town is already a very large and advanced town today, and the eighteen new investment projects of the government 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 metropolis within this year of the end of the century... I couldn't help but think of Manhattan again.So I told Secretary Xu that I hope your Dachen Town will become the Times Square of Manhattan, China! no problem.Next time you come, you can see our Dachen Square.I took a closer look at the 18 projects in his hands, no, one of them is to build a Dachen Plaza with various trading and market functions within this year. Well, you people from Yiwu, it seems that everything you have done yesterday is to write annotations for tomorrow's Manhattan of China! When I came to Dachen Town, I had to go to Nendali, one of the kings of shirts in China. This is a factory run by two brothers.At present, the Nendali 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 the shirt boss of course in Yiwu. His elder brother is Chen Xijian, he is chubby and looks like a big boss;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 small shopkeepers carrying leather bags and sacks all over the world to sell goods.Speaking of which, the development of the Chen brothers is not complicated. Their parents are both authentic farmers, and there are four 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 dream of college 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, and that period was the hardest for us brothers.In the magnificent living room, Chen Xidong, the younger brother of the general manager, said with emotion: At that time, our annual output was about 200,000 to 300,000 pieces.This scale belongs to the stage where it can neither form its own independent products nor has the advantage of market price competition. The only thing that can compete with others is the flexibility in sales.But this is not an easy task.At that time, my two brothers divided the work, 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 names, there is no place that the two of us have not been to.Some locals are not particularly aware of it, and both my brothers have been involved.Do you know how our production was done in those years?Hey, it's quite interesting now that I think about it.That's not actually a business, it's a door-to-door call!Because we are a small factory, no one knows us, let alone our products, so we can only go to the door of others every time.But in the past few years, we recognized the door and the way.I think there is so much potential for doing business in China, that is our vast Midwest and Northeast regions.The characteristic here is that it represents the basic level of the Chinese people, and the production and sales of the right products suitable for these places are also the right way for the Chinese market. In 1996, after eight years of anti-Japanese war, our two brothers decided to start a large shirt business in a decent manner, so we invested more than 30 million yuan.At that time, it cost more than 10 million yuan just to buy the land, so some people speculated whether we were speculating in real estate. When our modern factory buildings were erected and the whole set of equipment imported from Japan began to spin, the fathers and folks in Dachen Town I was amazed, saying that this is like doing a big business!While showing me around his modern ready-to-wear assembly line, Chen Xidong talked about the wise decisions he and his elder brother made back then: You have seen it, it’s such a big stall, and many people said that the two brothers smoked foreign The famous brands that Yan wears are all loans, and there are days when they cry.But in just three years, relying on our own technological advantages and scale advantages, we have occupied the commanding heights of China's shirt industry.At the same time, due to the famous brand advantage of Dali, the enterprise develops 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 Solar Dali's famous brand are worth 160 million yuan... The Chen Brothers are billionaires who told me how much they own.According to the current market share of Dali in China's shirt industry and its famous brand effect, 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 parents They still live in the country, and we still farm some land. Although they can take inexhaustible money from their sons, they still prefer to keep their own way of life.My two brothers have another pursuit in life. What we think more about is how to further develop and occupy the market, so that Chinese men can wear our Nendali, and one day, foreigners will also be able to wear it. Wear Chinese Nendali instead of Peel, Cardin. 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 it took only five or six years for Dali to dominate the Chinese shirt industry.Pierre, Kadan 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 Kyoto, what kind of life should it be? We spent 5 million yuan on the land here alone.But in order to let the folks in Dachen Town enjoy the happiness in the park like the people in the city, we are very happy to do this... Chen Xidong's words made me feel like magma is hot in the chest of the farmers in Dachen! 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.From the bustling urban area of ​​Yiwu to the territory of Sun Rongfu, 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 are still moving forward and backward, left and right... Sun Rongfu's territory is the entire mountain top plus the stretching all the way down. The 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 the high-level 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 personally, Sun Rongfu.This happened ten years ago, when Yiwu's market was still at an average level, and Yiwu people were only in the process of getting rid of poverty and just moving towards a well-off life. The only 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 really unpopular business.But at this moment, when people were preparing to watch Sun Rongfu 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 vines: 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 do business and has a strong backbone.In the eyes of ordinary people, Lao Sun is a man of no words, 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 has suffered has soaked into his bones.I first got some information about Sun Rongfu from the old secretary Xie Gaohua.During the Cultural Revolution, Lao Sun served as the deputy secretary of the party branch of the brigade. Later, because he led farmers to go out to work, he was designated as a black contractor and was expelled from the party.Xie Gaohua said, shortly after I took office in 1982, one day Sun Rongfu wrote me a note, proposing to contract Fenghuangshan, a collectively owned fruit tree farm, which suffered losses 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 three conditions for the contract: one contract period is 5 years; the other is to pay 20,000 yuan to the brigade every year;There was no precedent for this matter at the time, and the root of the problem was that he was expelled from the party.But I think that Lao Sun contracted a collective enterprise that has been losing money for years and can pay ten people. This is beneficial to the country and the people.I approved the word "agree" on his note, and wrote: The 5-year contract period is too short, and it can be contracted for 30 years.I took the risk to do this matter, and there really were a lot of rumors afterwards.I didn't care about these things, and while letting the relevant units go through the contracting procedures with Sun Rongfu, I sent people to re-investigate the punishment of Sun Rongfu.According to multiple verifications, Sun Rongfu's expulsion from the party was indeed a wrong decision of the organization.For this reason, I immediately ordered the relevant units to rehabilitate Sun Rongfu immediately... When Sun Rongfu was interviewed, he himself did not tell me the history of his disaster and the story before he brought his family up the mountain.He only said that when he gave up the park that had just been built and started to make a profit, and led his wife and children to the barren hills a long way away from the county town, a large group of people behind him were mocking him, saying that he, Sun Rongfu, was frightened , Even if you want to do something, you can avoid the wild mountains and mountains where wild dogs dare not go.Sun Rongfu, who was already used to being insulted by others, could no longer think about what others would say or say.What he thinks in his heart is that he can't lose the good time anymore, and he must seize the market and the opportunity to make a fortune!Lao Sun does all kinds of tricks, and he never wants to follow other people's buttocks.When the Yiwu small commodity market was booming, he chose the way of raising soft-shelled turtles.Haha, look at Sun Rongfu's ability, hiding in the barren mountains and wild mountains to raise a bastard, fresh!When someone heard that Lao Sun was going to raise soft-shelled turtles on the top of the mountain, his teeth almost crooked.But no, ordinary people know that to raise turtles, there must be water first, and there is not a drop of water that turtles want to drink on the Phoenix Mountain contracted by Sun Rongfu!Old Suncai doesn't care what others say, he knows in his heart that China is a country with a big food culture, soft-shelled turtle has always been regarded as a delicacy on the table, and the price of soft-shelled turtle in the domestic market is currently relatively expensive, the reason is that there is a shortage of goods.The development of the Yiwu Small Commodity Market will surely promote the snowballing of other markets.Sun Rongfu, who has a superhuman business mind, thinks further, that is, he believes that since Yiwu people can dominate the small commodity market in the whole of China and Asia, then Yiwu people can also do other businesses convincingly.Sun Rongfu, who was born as a farmer, chose to raise turtles by himself, and specially picked a barren hill that no one noticed, in order to calm down and start a big business. Sun Rongfu never made any publicity when he did things, and he never went down the mountain in the first three years after he went up the mountain.How many people in the Yiwu market at this time were looking at the opportunity to make a fortune, and many people became millionaires and multi-millionaires at that time.Sun Rongfu is like a laggard forgotten by the market.However, they didn't know that Sun Rongfu was immersed in the technology of artificially hatching soft-shelled turtles at this time.Lao Sun told me that natural soft-shelled turtles grow by a pound every five years, while artificial soft-shelled turtles grow by a pound a year.In order to break through the difficulties of artificial incubation, he had no temperature control equipment at that time, so he set up an artificial incubation laboratory with plastic sheets on his house.In order to ensure the incubation work under 32 degrees water temperature, he, Sun Rongfu, fought against the sky and the earth, and finally produced tens of thousands of lively and cute little soft-shelled turtles... In 1993, Sun Rongfu passed the artificial hatching technology, and at this time he discussed with his family Decision: Invest 11 million yuan to buy the 120-acre Fenghuang Mountain that was contracted that year, and establish Yiwu Yongqiang Breeding Co., Ltd. and Yiwu Soft-shelled Turtle Comprehensive Development Research Institute.This time, no one laughed at him anymore, because the profit Sun Rongfu made from raising a turtle was the profit of several or even dozens of other clothes. There are as many as hundreds of thousands of soft-shelled turtles, and the price per catty of soft-shelled turtles in the Chinese market has always been no less than 100 yuan. How much is 100 yuan for hundreds of thousands of turtles?That's nearly 100 million!Oh my god, isn't Sun Rongfu going to make a big fuss again?When others reacted, they had to clap their legs and call it too late! Sun Rongfu has really made it big. This year he invested another 13 million yuan to develop a salamander breeding project in another place.He is full of hope for the new industry. He said that currently there is only one in Guangzhou that has invested a large amount of money to set up a salamander farm.He said he was the second in the country.Artificially bred salamanders are allowed to be a delicacy on the table. Sun Rongfu said that one day the Chinese will be as enthusiastic about eating salamanders as the Japanese are now eating soft-shelled turtles.It is said that the market price of giant salamander on dining tables in Hong Kong and Taiwan is more than 1,000 Hong Kong dollars per catty.Sun Rongfu's next goal is to become a Chinese turtle king on the basis of being the Chinese soft-shelled fish king. Those who don't have a big mind can't become great tools, and those who don't understand the market will never be too big for money.Sun Rongfu's generosity made me know Yiwu people better from another aspect.However, the other side of Sun Rongfu's personality strength made me appreciate the source of spiritual wealth in the bones of Yiwu people. There are five members of Sun Rongfu's family. Apart from Sun and his wife, there are two sons and one daughter.Now the eldest son is married, but as a family company, Yiwu Yongqiang Breeding Co., Ltd. only has shares owned by five members of the family.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 five people seem to have different positions, but in reality, no one is less powerful 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 how good you are! Our family implements democratic deliberation, collective decision-making, clear division of labor, and each takes responsibility.Lao Sun publicly revealed the inside story of the family business for the first time: He said that I wanted to invest in salamander farming the year before last, but the plan was not approved at the shareholder meeting. Only I voted for it and they voted against it.I have no idea. Everyone thinks that raising giant salamanders requires a lot of investment and risks. Especially whether the Chinese market can make giant salamanders a climate remains to be seen.Although I personally think that China's salamander market must have a promising future, but 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, all parties finally raised their hands, 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, which is an area with both plains and hills, and some mountains.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 agriculture: in the future, all rural areas will become cities, so those towns How can farmers in mountainous or hilly areas with poor natural conditions realize modernization?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, they unexpectedly answered my doubts and concerns 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 to unswervingly implement the development strategy of developing businesses and building cities in the next five years. The professional market advantages formed have made Yiwu 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, our Yiwu urban area will be a modern medium-sized city in the true sense due to the intervention and merger of four satellite towns.The rural administrative districts of the whole city will gather towards the satellite towns, and between the satellite towns and the satellite towns, and between the satellite towns and Zhongyou and the urban areas will be connected by light express roads. The interactive network is constructed, thus forming a huge development trend of joint force interaction.In this way, the urban-rural differences that we are worried about in the traditional sense will be truly eliminated, and there will be no distinction between farmers and citizens... Secretary Zhao Jinyong said this to me, frankly speaking in his office without thinking.After listening to it, I felt a strong vibration in my heart—this kind of vibration 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 intention to enter the paradise-like farmer’s manor, and I had to bow my head and enter the future world that Yiwu’s leaders showed me. This can't help but remind me of the 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 how the most powerful country in the world today developed.Therefore, I went to Boston, where the Native Americans fought bloody battles with the British tobacco merchants, and also to Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence was signed in Washington. 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 Mingjun, as the Chinese say.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 and looked down at 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 will be blocked from further thinking: Isn't China's construction and historical process because of the prosperity of the 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's Yiwu is in the important period of crossing the century, and it coincides with the stage of marching from an unknown small city to a modern medium-sized city with a great reputation in China.Today's Yiwu people naturally cast their eyes on their leaders today. It is obvious that a region like Yiwu, where social strength and people's lives have already developed to a considerable level, how to adapt to the times, grasp the initiative in work, and raise the regional economic and social development to a new height is the current task. The most important topic before the team.In the face of challenges, the team is always clear-headed, and they will start their own business again!The banner of further development and improvement has never let go of the responsibility on the shoulders. Zhao Jinyong, secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, is very aware of this. He said frankly to me: As a county magistrate who was born as a farmer, I know what the people think and want.The old Xi surname is the main force in the development of a region, and it is a hen.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 the direct leadership and care of a certain leader or department first, and finally talk about the hard work of the masses. This is actually wrong.The people's creation of history and wealth comes first.Isn’t it the reason why Yiwu has today?The role of leadership is of course very important, but the role of leadership can only exert real power when it conforms to the will of the people.What is popular opinion?For a region, the fundamental thing is to develop the economy, make people's lives richer, and let the society move forward. This is the root of reflecting the people's will.To achieve this, decision makers and leaders must put their work focus and mind on the things that the people are most concerned about. The situation of direction and work synchronization.Therefore, we require ourselves and the comrades of the municipal leadership team to put the care and solutions of the common people in the first place to carry out our work.Take us in Yiwu as an example, our market is getting more and more prosperous, everyone has more and more money in their pockets, and with more money, they can still live with quality and fun.This is why our current city-level team focuses all its energy on building Yiwu into a modern medium-sized city.Because for Chinese peasants, being an urbanite in terms of identity and lifestyle is the highest ideal pursuit. Therefore, we continue to strengthen and accelerate the construction of cities and market towns in order to satisfy the needs of the old people. kind of pursuit.At the same time, the city has developed, and we cannot give up agricultural production, so how to deal with this contradiction, our responsibility as leaders lies in this.What is being a cadre?To be a cadre is to do what the people think in their hearts, or what they want in their hearts but can't do what they want.I often say to the people below, I just want you to work hard and work hard, why?The purpose is not to delay the affairs of the people... The people of Yiwu told us that although their market has been famous all over the country for many years, Yiwu has only become a decent city in recent years, thanks to the current team's strong sense of the times and Great job.Once upon a time, this small town with only tens of thousands of people suddenly became a city with two to three hundred thousand permanent residents and hundreds of thousands of floating population every day.However, although many people's household registration has completed the procedure of conversion from agricultural to non-agricultural, but in terms of ideology, awareness and behavior, they are still out-and-out farmers.And when this kind of non-urbanization awareness and behavior is concentrated in a public area, the image of the city it gives us is absolutely ugly.Yiwu City was not seen by outsiders in a period of time. It can be said that the water is not clear, the roads are uneven, the lights are not clear, the sewage is overflowing, the garbage is everywhere, and the traffic is blocked... Grasp, we must bring out the image of the city and improve the quality of the citizens!As a result, the Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government made drastic moves to strengthen the urban construction of several major projects, and invested a lot of money in the following consecutive years.At that time, a considerable number of people did not understand this practice, thinking that the policy makers used the money of the people to show off for themselves. In fact, we are well-intentioned!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气的农民嘛！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步，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那些可能要落骂名的事。但义乌的百姓给我讲了。前年，市府针对义乌城市建设中的突出问题，就大抓了落实三禁：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，这个箱子要上三把锁，交警部门一把，城管部门一把，市府一把。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、城管工作者，浩浩荡荡地走上大街。他们见一个按喇叭的就扣个司机的驾驶证。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竟然自己能把像按喇叭这样的老毛病治好了。With self-confidence, subsequent bans on smoking guns and poultry were also a great success.三梦一治，义乌市面上似乎下换了个样，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文明明的城里人哪！ Originally!Policy makers laughed. The people are convinced. 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一让我回到距市区一公里外的那个福田庄园吧。 Are there really farms in China?What is a Chinese farm like?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，在我的概念之中是糊涂的。During my trip to North America the year before last, I did go to the private estates of Canadians.那里的庄园基本是农庄式的，主人拥有很多地，一望无边。Then build a not too big house in a suitable place.The house is not like the Chinese people with strict walls around it, or a building, or rows of processing factories.Because farm owners generally have to process the grain or fruit they produce into semi-finished and finished products.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，幣个加拿大都不多。The reason is that with the development of modern industry, the rich and the rich have all moved to the metropolis, and the pastoral life in the countryside has lost its allure to the new generation of the rich.西方的庄园不再叫人流连忘返。So what is our Chinese manor like? 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水淸澈见底的海浪游泳场；有曲径通幽、风情万般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。Oh, this is our Chinese manor, a Chinese farmer's manor! 主人楼瑛财向我这个京城里来的人对他的庄园作个评价。I couldn't answer for a while.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，我曾被易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。The total investment is more than 130 million yuan.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，以及水面生产业三大块。The overall design of the manor is full of modern colors and rural features. The owner invited the most powerful design institutions in contemporary China, such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing University, Zhejiang University, Ministry of Aerospace, China Shipbuilding Corporation and other scientific research institutions and institutions of higher learning. done together.楼瑛财说，整个庄园的投资全是他家庭的股份，预计在八年左右收回全部投资。 Are you sure? should have.楼瑛财对我的问话，回答得很肯定。He said that in 1995, when the government called for breaking the barren mountains, he was one of the first batch of people who withdrew from the small commodity market to engage in agricultural development and build farms.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？干一天十个工分，合三毛来钱！咋个活法？我全家八口人，老的老，少的少，全靠我和孩子妈两人支撑着。那时我们生产队地少人多，又都是丘陵，大部分地是荒地。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，把你当成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，挑了八年货郎担，最远跑到湖南。 1978年幵始做些小生意，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十个小镜子，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。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，我们鼙个义乌人多地少，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。我有三个儿子一个女儿，那时孩子们大了，他们便一起与我做生意。我两个儿子脑子灵，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幵发农业资源优势，于是我们全家一商议，决定买下现在已经建成农庄的这块35多公顷的土地……楼瑛财提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！但我幻仅仅用了两年时间就把它变了样。I saw Lou Yingcai squatting down affectionately, gently stroking the tender green seedlings, with crystals rolling in her eye sockets.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。Do you know why?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呢？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？ yes.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 yuan. 有奖金吗？ 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美金？ yes. 花这么高代价值得吗？ certainly.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。 In that hearty laughter, I strongly felt the pride of a farmer who owns the land for his choice and future.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，他们或从亊农副产品开发种植，或从事畜牧业养殖与加工业，或从事连片的水面资源开发，或承包整个荒丘禿岭进行花木果树的商品化耕作开发……而正是一大批像楼氏家人禪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吏为广阔的搏杀与竞争的大战场。这就是赵金勇、周点水等一班人，刻求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? (Where are you from?) I'm from Yiwu，China.（我来自中国义乌。） I'm a businessman.（我是一位商人。） I'm a businesswoman.（我是一位女商人。） When we returned to the city from "Futian Manor" that day, it was already a night full of stars and neon lights.In front of a sales office that has closed down, two female businessmen are talking in English.After asking, I found out that they were planning to go to South Africa to do business with the group. 你们过去是农民吗？ yes.八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？ why not?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，只要哪儿有钱赚，有生意做，就是我们义乌人要去的地方。 This is another characteristic awareness of Yiwu people! 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。打改革开放后，早期的外出做工嫌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，浙江人最稍，他们不仅仅是以出卖劳力挣个饭钱，而是靠自己的手艺与才智嫌钱。Among Zhejiang people, Wenzhou people are famous for making their own products, while Yiwu people are famous for making commodity transactions in every corner.拿温州人与义乌人相比较，前者是更多的依靠在自己的土地上用制作出精良多样的产品来扩充和窗有自己的实力，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人商品交易的流通过程，而这个过，程其实是整个商品经济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。 在20世纪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洽的奇迹，着实让中国以外的人们瞪大眼睛惊叹了好阵。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? very simple.In business, what we pursue is whether there is a market.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省地，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所有可能形成市场的每一个角落。Having said that, I have to talk about Yu Hanping. 余汉平是谁？Yu Hanping is an ordinary Yiwu farmer, but Yu Hanping is now the most influential businessman in western China.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，使这一日因而变得有些特殊。这个名叫兰州义乌商贸城自然就是余汉平的。