Chapter 221: Return with Full Load (First Update)_1

Translator: 549690339

The debates and comments from various major media outlets did not influence Nie Zhenbang. After the “Daily at Seven” news broadcast, the voices of doubt were already suppressed. Almost everyone understood the situation – the higher-ups were supportive.

Nie Zhenbang’s entourage, after standing outside the exhibition hall for two days, moved inside to a nearly two-hundred square meter booth. Above the entrance, an art sign was specially crafted, reading “Captivating Li County, City of Openness”. Such a slogan immediately attracted the attention of many businessmen.

Every day saw a great deal of coming and going businessmen. With an official setup this time, even television and video recordings were used. The television continuously looped scenes of Li County’s scenery, giving a clear, endless view of pasture, which also attracted many visitors to stop and watch.

“Mr. Wang, let me introduce you. This is Director Nie Zhenbang, the Director of the People’s Government of Li County, and concurrently, Secretary of our Li County Economic and Technological Development Zone Working Committee. If you have any questions, feel free to consult Director Nie directly.”

At this moment, at the exhibition venue, Nie Zhenbang was also looking at the investment data from the past few days. During this period, many people had left their company’s contact details and detailed information. Twenty-plus companies had signed letters of intent on the spot and promised to visit Li County.

Upon hearing Fan Zhenming’s statement, Nie Zhenbang also looked up at the forty-year-old man in front of him, who appeared somewhat short in stature. Nie Zhenbang also stood up, smiling and extending his hand, “Mr. Wang, hello. Welcome to our Li County exhibition.”

This type of situation was far from the first time. It was human nature, these business owners were all savvy characters. Everyone’s money was hard-earned, diligently accumulated. Investing was no trivial matter. The Xibei Autonomous Region was a border area with a complex ethnic structure. It was normal for investors to have concerns and doubts about investing here.

Nie Zhenbang’s courteous manner was a bit surprising to Mr. Wang. In this day and age, government officials usually adopted a bossy persona; Nie Zhenbang was a rare exception.

Despite Nie Zhenbang being relatively young, his demeanor conveyed gravitas and authority. Mr. Wang also laughed and reached out his hand, “Director Nie, compared to you, we are all wet behind the ears. Director Nie, I specialize in leather tanning. Just now, I listened to Director Fan introduce the situation in Li County. I’ve heard of the Min Nong Company. If I were to invest, would Min Nong Company be able to supply the raw materials we need? Also, if Min Nong Company exports fresh products directly, wouldn’t our supply of raw materials be cut off?”

Hearing Mr. Wang’s words, Nie Zhenbang frowned. This issue that Mr. Wang raised was the first of its kind. After all, if Min Nong Company exports, not all can be finished products, especially if they export to the Middle East, the products have to be fresh. Otherwise, preservation over such long distances was an issue. Frozen meat would lose its original texture and taste.

After a moment’s thought, Nie Zhenbang smiled and said, “Mr. Wang, you do not need to worry about the supply of raw materials. Not only Min Nong Company, but the entire Northwest Region, not only Bazhou City, has abundant pasture resources. Other cities, including the nearby Qingzhou and Ganzhou, also have plenty of pastoral resources. You do not need to worry about the raw materials. As for the export of fresh products…”

Nie Zhenbang paused here, looked at Mr. Wang, and smiled, “Mr. Wang, as a businessman, nowadays, everything is dominated by the laws of market economy. Exporting is profitable for companies. But, if we can make them believe that domestic slaughtering generates higher returns, I believe that this will not be a problem.”

Nie Zhenbang would definitely not take on responsibility for this alone. Providing preferential policies for companies was Lixian’s duty. This was the foundation of attracting investment. The government should treat all equally according to the policies for attracting investment, exempting what should be exempted, reducing what should be reduced. During the operation period, Lixian can serve as a nanny, responsible for coordinating local affairs, and helping companies to build. However, Nie Zhenbang would never make such a commitment as to have the Lixian government supply these raw materials. In his memory, countless local governments have made all sorts of promises to attract investments, and ended up unable to fulfill these promises, which resulted in disputes and even lawsuits. Nie Zhenbang would absolutely not make promises beyond established policies.

Mr. Wang, on the other hand, stood up after hearing Nie Zhenbang’s words, “Director Nie, your straightforward honesty is refreshing. I don’t think I need to visit Li County in person. I think we can directly sign an investment contract now. My company is not large, initially, I want to set up a leather factory in Li County, covering fifty acres. How does that sound?”

Mr. Wang’s words stunned both Nie Zhenbang and Fan Zhenming. There were many investors who looked at and asked about signing letters of intent, scheduled visits, and even decided to visit Li County together with Nie Zhenbang and his team. However, there were indeed very few like Mr. Wang who directly decided to purchase fifty acres of land to build a factory.

On the side, Fan Zhenming also advised, “Mr. Wang, won’t you go over and take a look first?”

Hearing Fan Zhenming’s words, Mr. Wang laughed and waved his hand, “Director Fan, no need. I’m an emotional person. Just now, Director Nie’s words. I found them very genuine. He said what it is, what it is not. Because of this, I believe in your Li County cadre. With such a county director, I’m sure it can’t be wrong.”

With this sentence, everyone from Li County began to understand a little bit. Mr. Wang is a respectable businessman. What he fears most is not the raw materials nor the difficulty in doing business. He is afraid that local governments will come to investigate today and transfer tomorrow. If so, then there is no need to do any other business. Nie Zhenbang’s attitude and honesty just now reassured Mr. Wang.

Under the arrangement of Fan Zhenming, here, Yan Fengjiao, as the director of the Li County Development Zone Management Committee, represented the Li County government and Mr. Wang, together they drafted an investment agreement on the spot. Li County would offer a preferred sale of 50 acres of land to Mr. Wang in accordance with the national industrial land price and Li county’s current land price standards. Li County would also help Mr. Wang’s Wang’s Leather Factory deal with related documents. Mr. Wang, on the other hand, would wire the 300,000 yuan in earnest money to the Li County Development Zone’s treasury within three days after the contract was signed.

In the next few days, the scene at the Li County exhibition booth was as hot as ever, and Mr. Wang even brought a few friends.

As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. The people who can become friends with Mr. Wang are all straightforward and very frank people. After understanding Li County’s investment promotion policy in detail and communicating with Li County’s officials, they all signed the contract without hesitation.

The 20-day exhibition flew by in no time, and now all the data has also been sorted out. Looking at the results, Yan Fengjiao and Fan Zhenming looked at each other, both slightly surprised.

“Director Yan, this number, is it wrong?” Fan Zhenming was stunned. The number represented some of the achievements of the entire exhibition over the past twenty days. For a while, all staff members of Li County, including Nie Zhenbang, Yan Fengjiao and Fan Zhenming, were exhausted and had spoken enough to make them not want to move anymore. Therefore, they hadn’t compiled any statistics until the end of the exhibition, when they finally began to compile the data in the hotel. However, the final result left Fan Zhenming surprised.

Yan Fengjiao paused, took over the report, scanned it once, and was just as astonished, “Liu, are you sure your side didn’t make any mistakes in the statistics? Everyone has been exhausted for twenty days, both mentally and physically, reaching a limit. Mistakes are inevitable and understandable.”

Liu is a member of the Investment Promotion Bureau and a university graduate in finance. Right now, with both leaders not believing it, he said with a bitter face, “County Mayor Yan, I’m also afraid of making a mistake, so I double-checked it and asked Old Guo to help me calculate it. The result is this number. It’s really not wrong.”

At this moment, Nie Zhenbang came over and saw the data, and he was also astonished. In just twenty days, thirteen companies have signed investment contracts and paid the preliminary deposit. These companies cover leather manufacturing, leather goods production, Chinese medical material processing, drug manufacturing, mining, and agricultural development reaching over 80 million in total investment. Add to this the dozens of companies that came along with Nie Zhenbang and others for inspection, and it’s estimated that just this time Li County Development Zone could introduce more than 200 million in investments. In this era, it’s definitely considered fruitful. More importantly, after this event, Li County has become famous nationwide, opening up the situation of attracting investment.

Nie Zhenbang reflected for a moment, and then instructed, “So, Director Yan, you have been coordinating the inspection team’s affairs all along. I think you can contact the bosses and managers who have confirmed to participate in the inspection. We have more than ten people ourselves, plus Mr. Wang and their confirmed investment companies have more than fifty people. The inspection team also has seventy to eighty people. We can totally charter a flight back.”

A chartered plane, hearing Nie Zhenbang’s words, everyone’s eyes lit up. An inspection team on a chartered plane would probably be another event that would shock the Northwest.

At this moment, Nie Zhenbang added, “In addition, I am going to contact Secretary Liu and Mayor Ding right away. This is an opportunity for Li County and Bazhou City. Perhaps some people are not interested in Li County but like Bazhou City, which would also be a gain.”

PS: There are only 11 hours left until 12 o’clock on the 29th. I am a bit overdrawn these two days. I only woke up at more than 9 o’clock in the morning, and I started writing at 10:30 in a daze. The first update is late. Brothers and sisters, there’s an end to everything. We still have more than ten hours left, please brothers and sisters check out if there are still any monthly tickets. If there are, please vote for Old Cai, tomorrow the monthly tickets will be invalid. Also seek recommendations (to be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation.)