Chapter 523: Confirming the Principal

Regarding the provincial inspection, Lu Fan is confident but also places great importance, estimating that they will find faults, and Nanyuan City can quickly make up and improve deficiencies, laying a foundation for the national assessment.

On January 4, the final economic indicator reporting of the year began; even the provincial authorities attach great importance and look forward to Nanyuan City's results, hoping that Huayuan Province will produce another trillion‑GDP city, and Nanyuan City is standing ready.

Municipal Party Secretary Lu Fan personally called the top leaders of each county and district, urging them to proceed steadily, hold the data baseline, work through every level, and ensure that all reports are submitted, all statistics are accounted for, and all grain is stored.

Under Lu Fan's supervision and emphasis, the counties and districts promptly held a final‑stage oath‑taking meeting; county‑level leaders all descended to the front lines and enterprises, fixed on the targets, mustered energy, and sprinted to complete all annual tasks, showcasing the year's achievements with excellent results and submitting a satisfactory answer sheet to the Municipal Party Committee.

County secretaries and County Chiefs were sweating, as the lowest‑ranking county or district leader would have to change positions; Lu, the secretary, practices what he preaches, and none of them want to be the "unlucky one."

On January 10, the statistical network was shut down, and all counties and districts completed the economic indicator reporting.

After the Statistics Bureau reported the data, Director Ye Liangyuan immediately briefed Lu Fan with the estimated figures; the final results must wait for the national statistical feedback later in the month.

Upon receiving the report, Lu Fan was eager and carefully examined it: the 2023 Nanyuan City GDP is estimated at 889.3 billion yuan, a 99 % increase over the previous year; total fiscal revenue is 85.2 billion yuan, up 101 %; general public‑budget revenue is 51.2 billion yuan, up 96 %.

Industrial added value was 365.2 billion yuan, a 312 % rise; fixed‑asset investment reached 1.35 trillion yuan, up 358 %; total retail sales of consumer goods were 485.6 billion yuan, up 86 %; deposit balance stood at 1.1 trillion yuan, up 45 %; per‑capita disposable income of urban residents was 4.8 yuan, up 25 %; per‑capita disposable income of rural residents was 3.1 yuan, up 24 %; over the year the city added 190,000 urban jobs, re‑employed 65,000 urban unemployed persons, and issued an additional 1.035 billion yuan of entrepreneurship guarantee loans…

All of the above are positive news; at least fifteen hard economic indicators can rank first in the province, and even stand out nationally, which puts Lu Fan in a great mood. The only regret is that despite a full‑throttle push, the trillion‑GDP target is still short by 110.7 billion yuan. That may be Nanyuan's limit; next year there will be no major projects or investment attractions, and the GDP will have to decline.

The city's grain‑crop planting area was 1,308.89 thousand hectares, up 0.6 thousand hectares from the previous year. Grain output was 6.942 million tons, a 3.0 % decline. This made Lu Fan wary: land area increased while output fell, and the heavy responsibility from Secretary Hong Tao looms! This problem can only be solved through land transfer.

Overall, this report card is extremely satisfactory, meeting Lu Fan's expected goals and delivering a complete performance in every aspect!

Lu Fan was reviewing the report card when his phone rang; it was his father‑in‑law Li Mingzhou, so he waved his hand, asked Statistics Bureau Director Ye Liangyuan to step aside, and then answered the call.

"Lu Fan, are the results out?" Li Mingzhou asked concernedly.

Lu Fan smiled and said, "The trillion‑GDP hasn't been reached; we're still short by over 110 billion yuan."

Li Mingzhou replied, "A trillion isn't that easy to chase; nearly 9,000 billion is already a miracle! How about the other aspects?"

Lu Fan responded, "Dad, regarding the economic indicators, Nanyuan is projected to claim more than ten first‑place rankings, especially in growth rate, where we have a cliff‑like leading advantage over other cities."

Li Mingzhou said happily, "Very good, very good. This report card will lay a solid foundation for your next advancement!"

"Dad, is it perhaps a bit too hasty? Should we achieve some more results?"

Li Mingzhou said earnestly, "One step slower makes every step slower; one step later makes every step later. You want to solidify the foundation, but others don't think that way; extraordinary promotions have been common these two years. Being a step ahead, striking first, winning the lead—you must endure to reach a deputy‑ministerial rank. Once this step is taken, there will be a major adjustment in 2027, perhaps allowing you to ride the momentum. I have discussed this with your grandfather; although you are young, your achievements are persuasive, and further progress is reasonable. After the New Year, handle a few more livelihood projects, build reputation, and then wait for the right moment!"

"Alright, I'll follow you and grandpa's advice!"

On January 15, Wang Lan, head of the on‑site inspection team for Food‑Safety Demonstration Cities and deputy director of the Food Coordination Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation, led a delegation to Nanyuan City for acceptance of related work; the whole city stood ready. Lu Fan had already warned all counties, districts, and departments—anyone who dared to lag on this major matter would be dismissed without discussion!

In the afternoon, Nanyuan City held a briefing on the creation of a National Food‑Safety Demonstration City; Director Wang Lan and the acceptance team attended, as did the Governor of the Provincial Market Supervision Administration. Municipal Party Secretary Lu Fan chaired the meeting, and Mayor Su Xiang Hai gave the report.

At the meeting, Wang Lan explained the background, purpose, and significance of creating a National Food‑Safety Demonstration City, and gave a brief overview of the arrangements and requirements for the on‑site inspection in Nanyuan.

Wang Lan pointed out that the purpose of the National Food‑Safety Demonstration City initiative is to mobilize local party committees and governments, enhance full‑process food‑safety supervision, and promote the implementation of territorial and corporate responsibilities. Currently, Nanyuan City has completed the municipal self‑assessment and the provincial preliminary review for the demonstration city creation; over the next three days, it will conduct a thorough evaluation through leader interviews, review of demonstration‑leading project materials, and on‑site inspections.

Wang Lan said the on‑site inspection team will strictly abide by relevant disciplinary requirements and carry out work in a factual, objective, and impartial manner.

Mayor Su Xiang Hai reported that Nanyuan City always puts people at the center, strictly implements the "two responsibilities" of food safety, aligns the whole city with high‑quality development, implements detailed measures, solidly advances the modernization of the food‑safety governance system and capabilities, and has markedly raised the city's food‑safety level. Since the creation work began, Nanyuan has adhered to the principle that citizens gain benefits, the market develops, and the city becomes safer; through a series of practical activities, the happiness, security, and sense of gain of the people have continuously risen…

In his speech, the Municipal Party Secretary welcomed the acceptance team, emphasizing that creating a National Food‑Safety Demonstration City is a major livelihood project benefiting the people. Nanyuan City will seize this acceptance as an opportunity, leverage its resource endowment and locational advantages, continuously consolidate and expand the achievements, vigorously promote the creation of a regional public brand "Nanyuan Quality" for the food industry, and fully cooperate with the acceptance team…

After the meeting, the acceptance work unfolded vigorously, becoming Nanyuan City's top priority.

In fact, the acceptance is just a procedural step; the outcome will not change because Secretary Hong Tao and Li Lao place great importance on it.

On January 17, Lu Fan accompanied Deputy Provincial Governor Lei Juan to Jingcheng again, inviting Zhang Boli to serve as the Principal of Zhang Zhongjing National Medical University; this was already the third visit to his thatched cottage!

Professor Zhang was ultimately moved by the sincerity of Huayuan Province and Nanyuan City and agreed to fully prepare the construction of Zhang Zhongjing National Medical University. Lu Fan finally breathed a sigh of relief, having finally found an outstanding leader for the university.

Professor Zhang is a specialist in Traditional Chinese Medicine internal medicine, an academician of the Engineering Academy, a National Medical Master, a member of the Academic Division of the National Academy of Medical Sciences, and a member of the Academic Division of the National Academy of Chinese Medicine (first batch); he is honorary dean of several hospital‑affiliated universities, deputy chief expert of the major national science‑technology project "Significant New Drug Creation," leader of the national key discipline of TCM internal medicine, a representative inheritor of the traditional preparation methods of TCM for the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage projects (both listings), recipient of the 2019 National Outstanding Contribution Award in Traditional Chinese Medicine, awarded the state honor title "People's Hero" in August 2020, and winner of the 13th Guanghua Engineering Science and Technology Award.

With Professor Zhang serving as chair of the preparatory committee for Zhang Zhongjing National Medical University and as head of the strategic advisory committee of the Zhang Zhongjing Laboratory, this is undeniably an extremely uplifting piece of news for the university's construction, with far‑reaching and significant positive impact.

First, regarding faculty resources, Professor Zhang's extensive network opens a major door for the school. He can, through his deep connections, recruit a group of top medical experts and scholars to teach or serve part‑time.

At the same time, Professor Zhang has many students and wields broad influence and appeal in the TCM field, which can attract more high‑quality applicants and talent to the school.

Moreover, Professor Zhang can play a key role in the university's overall planning and development direction, ensuring fewer detours during construction.

In recent days, Lu Fan's mood has been excellent, as good news keeps arriving.

In the 2023 Sponge City Construction Demonstration Review led by the finance department, Nanyuan City stood out, successfully applying to become a national third‑batch systematic, city‑wide Sponge City demonstration city, and will receive 1.5 billion yuan of central fiscal subsidies over the next three years.

The Health and Family Planning Commission launched a financially supported pilot project for public‑hospital reform and high‑quality development, selecting cities for tailored reform breakthroughs. Among the first batch of fifteen demonstration cities, Nanyuan City made the list, bringing another large sum of funding.

Nanyuan City's Traditional Chinese Medicine Orthopedic Regional Medical Center project received 100 million yuan of central budget funding.

Nanyuan's national storage forest construction obtained 10 billion yuan of credit support.

Nanyuan's National Urban Public Transport City creation received praise from the Ministry of Transport's "Creation Work Expert Acceptance Team," securing 228 million yuan of funding.

…

Lu Fan's "money‑loving" reputation has spread throughout Nanyuan's leadership; officials naturally "play to his strengths," doing everything to secure higher‑level funding, and the results have gradually become evident, with funds pouring in at every level. The harder a city works, the more funding and policies naturally tilt toward it!