Chapter 573: Trillion‑GDP Distinction

On January 22, the Huayuan Province Market Supervision Administration held an unveiling ceremony for the newly established regular‑division‑level public institutions, unveiling the nine new institutions together.

Lu Fan, a member of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee and head of the Provincial Party Committee Organization Department, attended the ceremony and gave a speech. Ren Zhihong, Party Committee Secretary and Director of the Provincial Market Supervision Administration, presided over the ceremony and read aloud the contents of the document on the reshaping reform of the Administration's public institutions issued by the Provincial Party Committee Office.

The newly created institutions are the Provincial Fair Competition Review Affairs Center, the Provincial Platform Economy Development Guidance Center, the Trademark Review Collaboration Center, the Provincial Defective Product Recall Center, the Provincial Consumer Rights Protection Center, the Provincial Individual Private Economy Development Guidance Center, the Provincial Enterprise Credit Center, the Provincial Food Safety and Emergency Assurance Center, and the Provincial Professional Technical Talent Service Center, completing the slimming process.

Lu Fan stressed in his speech that advancing the reshaping reform of public institutions is a necessary requirement for improving public service quality and advancing the modernization of Huayuan's development. At the new starting point, the nine newly formed institutions must build consensus, pool wisdom and talent, and unite hearts and strength to better serve Huayuan's high‑quality economic and social development.

In contrast, the reform of the provincial transportation public institutions lagged half a step; the plan had not yet been approved by the leading group, and Lu Fan complained that their "movement" was too small and failed to meet expectations, so Zheng Fengyu received a harsh reprimand when reporting.

On January 25, the National Bureau of Statistics released the 2024 national economic data, adding a new member to the trillion‑GDP club: Nanyuan City became the 23rd city to surpass a trillion‑GDP.

That afternoon, Nanyuan held a Municipal Party Committee economic work meeting, announcing that the 2024 regional GDP had broken the trillion‑yuan mark, with an expected growth of about 15 %, and that the city's total fiscal revenue had surpassed the 250‑billion‑yuan threshold.

Municipal Party Secretary Lu Fan demanded that the whole city muster full vigor, align with the major trends of industrial development, finalize planning and implementation schemes, clarify specific industrial layouts, and optimize the allocation of resources and factors; on the premise of high quality, the city should strive to build two trillion‑level, four five‑hundred‑billion‑level, and six six‑hundred‑billion‑level modern industrial clusters, raising Nanyuan's various undertakings to a new height.

Nanyuan City resembled a dark horse, breaking through the encirclement with astonishing momentum and leaping to become the first prefecture‑level city in the central‑western region to surpass the trillion‑GDP threshold.

This eye‑catching achievement instantly ignited a wave of online discussion, becoming a highly watched focal topic that attracted countless eyes.

Major mainstream media rushed to cover the story, focusing their lenses on this vibrant and promising city. From authoritative newspapers to professional financial magazines, none failed to conduct in‑depth analysis and detailed reporting of Nanyuan's brilliant achievements; short‑video platforms turned into a carnival, with a flood of exciting videos about Nanyuan's rise, unique development model, and future outlook sprouting like bamboo shoots after rain.

These videos, through vivid visual displays and emotionally resonant narration, allowed people across the nation to directly perceive Nanyuan's vigorous development momentum.

Good things came in pairs; on January 26, the National Happy City Forum co‑hosted by Outlook Oriental Weekly and Outlook Think Tank, together with CCTV Finance's "National Good Life Survey", selected the nation's top ten happy cities, with Nanyuan City taking the sole lead as the city with the highest happiness index. Among them, the three hard indicators of education, medical care, and employment were all the highest in the country.

That made Nanyuan City go completely viral, soaring to the heavens!

National Food Safety Model City, Student Canteen Upgrade, Free School Uniforms, Free Medical Care, Urban Construction, Zhongjing National Medical University, College‑Entrance Exam Miracle, Business Environment Upgrade, Pang Shilai's Entry, Land Transfer, Abandoned‑Building Renovation, "Three‑No" Petition City, Employment Training…

One after another, the people‑pleasing measures that captured nationwide attention were reported, and Lu Fan rightfully became the creator of the "Nanyuan Miracle". This honor made him the unrivaled star of Huayuan Province for a time; his deeds spread widely on the internet, turning the Municipal Party Secretary into a nationally known "internet celebrity"!

Lu Fan "went viral"; Tang Bing and Liu Linghao, whenever they meet, can't help praising him, urging others to emulate Nanyuan City.

Even Wang Hong Tao called Lu Fan personally to convey congratulations.

On the phone, Wang Hong Tao said: "Lu Fan, a trillion‑GDP—amazing! Congratulations, this is a hugely important milestone in your career!"

Lu Fan replied modestly: "Secretary, Nanyuan's achievements could not have happened without your support and assistance, nor without the hard work of the city's cadres and masses; compared with that, the work I did is trivial!"

Wang Hong Tao laughed: "Excessive modesty is just pride. You fully deserve this honor and must own it! I read the reports; behind the trillion‑GDP is an ever‑high happiness index, which is especially rare, showing that you not only focus on economic growth but also wholeheartedly serve the people, doing practical deeds that warm hearts—something many of our cadres overlook."

Lu Fan replied: "Secretary, I understand that economic development is the foundation of livelihood improvement and social progress; only by developing the economy can we provide the essential resources, capital, and services needed to improve people's lives. Without economic development, improving livelihoods is water without a source, a tree without roots."

Wang Hong Tao agreed: "You're right; enhancing people's welfare is the fundamental purpose of development. If economic growth fails to meet the people's expectations and does not provide them with tangible benefits and a sense of gain commensurate with the growth, such development loses its meaning and cannot be sustained. Continuously expanding the economic total and ensuring that reform outcomes benefit the masses more fairly is the coordination of economic development and livelihood improvement we must pursue. Lu Fan, your recent institutional reforms have caused a lot of movement; I look forward to seeing how you will 'shake up' Huayuan."

Lu Fan reported: "Secretary, the reform of the geological mining system has been completed, integrating 35 geological‑survey public institutions into a 'one bureau, one institute, one group' structure. The provincial market supervision system has also finished its reform, retaining nine regular‑division‑level institutions while eliminating all others. These two reforms have given us valuable experience. I plan to start in February to carry out a comprehensive 'slimming' and 'fitness' of the province‑direct public institutions, aiming to finish within three months. From April, we will reform the public institutions at the municipal and county levels, and I intend to use Nanyuan City as a pilot next month to continue summarizing experience."

My ultimate plan is, at the provincial‑direct level, excluding schools and hospitals, to cut public institutions by 60 %, abolish division‑level and institutions with fewer than 16 staff, eliminate all 'shell units', reduce overall staffing by about 47 %, trim departmental‑level leadership posts by 10 % and division‑level leadership posts by 25 %. At the municipal and county level, reduce institutions by 45 % and staffing by roughly 25 %, with fully funded institutions' staffing cut by 15 %.

Wang Hongtao sighed: "The effort cannot be called small, Lu Fan; I am increasingly looking forward to your reform results. Streamlining public institutions is imperative; you must thoroughly summarize Huayuan's reform experience, establish regulations, and then promote them nationwide."

"Secretary, I will certainly follow your instructions, summarizing the strengths and weaknesses of Huayuan's public‑institution reforms for national reference."

Wang Hong Tao said earnestly: "Some say that every institutional reform is really a 'personnel tug‑of‑war'; it changes not only functional allocations but also many civil servants' life trajectories. You are at the eye of the reform storm, and the pressure you face is obvious. You must select and appoint people fairly, justly, and openly; when governance is public, the people won't dare to be lax; when integrity is upheld, officials won't dare to cheat; publicness brings clarity, integrity brings authority!"

"I will keep the Secretary's guidance in mind. This reform implements quota management for institutions and staffing, prohibiting over‑staffing, over‑posts, and excess positions, though consolidation inevitably leads to some overlap. For the over‑staffed leaders, I will adopt several measures: 1) extend the bench, implement real‑name management, retire one for each new hire, and eliminate them within three to five years; 2) demote to non‑leadership roles while retaining original leadership benefits, moving them to secondary lines; 3) offer early retirement to those with thirty years of service or those with twenty years of service and less than five years to retirement, after negotiation; 4) reassign through secondary allocation by the Provincial Party Committee Organization Department, giving priority to vacant posts; 5) follow the principle of 'no new hires, natural attrition' to gradually dissolve them."

"Hmm, good, there's a method and a plan, but in actual implementation various problems will arise; you must summarize the experience and report to me once a month on any special situations."

"Alright, Secretary!"

After hanging up, Lu Fan's fighting spirit flared instantly, and he threw himself into the heavy work with renewed vigor.

That afternoon, under the support and instructions of Secretary Tang Bing, Lu Fan held face‑to‑face talks with the heads of the six public institutions under the Provincial People's Congress, carefully listening to their overall work and the progress of the reshaping reforms, and issuing requirements for each institution's reform.

Lu Fan also kept timely and precise supervision by attending departmental Party committee meetings, receiving special reports, and conducting in‑depth investigations, closely monitoring disciplinary implementation in the relevant units, and continuously fostering a clean and upright reform atmosphere.

Lu Fan's ongoing investigations also served to avoid the province‑wide "New Year greetings" from leaders, since in recent days many from the Organization Department have been lining up.

After entering, they chatted aimlessly, trying to think of gifts to give, which made Lu Fan very uncomfortable yet helpless—he couldn't simply send them away. Moreover, putting himself in their shoes, he also had to pay New Year visits to leaders, so he could only politely advise them, wasting a lot of precious time.