Chapter 2145

When this batch of commercial and affordable housing was first developed, Su Xinghui said it was to renovate the old urban district of the county and relocate its residents. However, by the end of the year, when the central government called for returning farmland to lakes, these houses would come in handy for resettling those migrants.

This was the true reason why Su Xinghui had acted so stubbornly, insisting on vigorously developing these commercial and affordable housing units in the new district of Chongjin County.

With these 50,000 migrants, it was actually a good thing for the current Chongjin County; it was equivalent to Chongjin County achieving a portion of its urbanization goals ahead of schedule. With these 50,000 migrants entering the county seat, the population of Chongjin County would reach 100,000, doubling in an instant, which would make Chongjin County increasingly prosperous.

China's urbanization goal was for the urban population ratio to reach about 50 percent of the total population by around 2010, while currently, China's urban population ratio was only a little over 30 percent, which was still quite far from this goal.

The urban population ratio of Chongjin County was less than 15 percent of the total population, making it even further from this goal. By the end of this year, Chongjin County's urban population ratio would be able to increase to about 25 percent, which was a huge leap.

With more and more enterprises being introduced and the intensive development of agriculture, Su Xinghui was very confident that he could make Chongjin County's urbanization rate reach the national average before the scheduled time.

Of course, that was a long-term matter; for now, Su Xinghui could only consider the issue of returning farmland to lakes.

Su Xinghui wandered around Jingbao Village for a while. The farmers here were very enthusiastic toward him. At noon, many of them insisted on pulling him to their homes for a meal, but Su Xinghui politely declined, saying that current discipline did not allow it and asking everyone to understand.

Su Xinghui had originally intended to go to another village, but he received a phone call from Mi Xiuyuan, who said he had arrived in Chongjin County. Su Xinghui then said he would return to the county government immediately to see him.

Returning to the county government, Su Xinghui met Mi Xiuyuan in his office. Mi Xiuyuan had returned to Hong Kong for the New Year and had stayed there for over a month, only now arriving in Chongjin County.

Upon seeing Su Xinghui, Mi Xiuyuan smiled and said, "Xinghui, in the past few months, our family has followed international hot money and made quite a lot of profit in Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asian countries. Following your advice, we bought quite a few bankrupt enterprises in Japan and South Korea, and we have gained a lot in terms of technology!"

After international hot money returned from Hong Kong in defeat, they turned their attention to Japan and South Korea in East Asia. The yen and the won plummeted, and Japan and South Korea also erupted into a serious financial crisis.

Under Su Xinghui's suggestion, the consortium led by the Mi Group also followed this international hot money and gained quite a lot in Japan and South Korea. The biggest benefit was not just in terms of money, but in technology.

During this wave of the financial crisis, a large number of enterprises in Japan and South Korea went bankrupt, many of which had long histories. Although these enterprises went bankrupt during the financial crisis, it was because their capital chains had broken; their technological reserves were actually still very strong.

After this financial crisis, the Mi Group purchased many enterprises. The enterprises they chose were those that were leading in certain technologies. They did not use their own name to purchase the enterprises, but registered some offshore companies abroad and bought these enterprises through complex operational means.

The reason for doing this was, of course, to avoid the technological barriers that Western countries had against China. Although the Mi Group was a Hong Kong enterprise, Hong Kong had now returned to China, so such technological barriers also existed for Hong Kong enterprises.

Su Xinghui told them that in the current era, what was important was not just capital, but technology, so he hoped they could take advantage of this good opportunity to buy more advanced technology.

Now they had indeed done so according to Su Xinghui's suggestion, which made Su Xinghui very happy. Although the Mi Group was a Hong Kong enterprise, Hong Kong had now returned to China, and the Mi Group was also a Chinese enterprise; it was always a good thing for them to buy technology back.

Mi Xiuyuan said that the technologies they bought back this time could be considered to fill domestic gaps, and the coverage was very wide, including machinery, electronics, precision instruments, automobiles, and other fields, which might allow them to have relatively large breakthroughs in these areas.

Su Xinghui said, "Xiuyuan, then congratulations to you!"

Mi Xiuyuan said, "Xinghui, it is still your vision that is long-term. This Asian financial crisis is equivalent to our Mi Group completing an accumulation that would have taken at least several decades ahead of schedule. This is all thanks to you, so my father specifically asked me to come back to thank you!"

Seeing the smile on Mi Xiuyuan's face, Su Xinghui knew that the Mi Group's gains in this battle in Japan and South Korea must be significant. However, this was also normal; having already known the results in advance and having made preparations early, it would be strange if the gains were not large.

Their gains this time might be counted in the billions of US dollars, because their capital was becoming more and more abundant now, and the avalanche-like fall of the yen and the won this time was exactly a good opportunity to make a big profit.

Of course, Su Xinghui would not ask how much the Mi Group specifically earned. No matter how much they earned, Su Xinghui would not take a penny. However, it was also good for Su Xinghui that they earned a lot; after all, they were Su Xinghui's allies.

Su Xinghui asked, "By the way, Xiuyuan, how have the arrangements in Indonesia been made?"

Mi Xiuyuan nodded and said, "They are almost arranged. During this period, the anti-Suharto forces in Indonesia have united to urge Suharto to step down. Several pro-China opposition leaders have participated in it, preparing to run for president after Suharto steps down."

Su Xinghui said, "Then is it possible for Suharto to step down?"

Mi Xiuyuan shook his head and said, "The possibility is not too great right now. His prestige in Indonesia is really too high. Although Indonesia's domestic economy has been hit hard this time, causing his prestige to decline somewhat, it is not enough to make him step down for the time being. After all, he still holds the military in his hands."

Suharto's prestige in Indonesia was indeed quite high, because it was he who led the rapid development of Indonesia's economy for more than 30 years, allowing the Indonesian people to live and work in peace and contentment.

But this Asian financial storm dealt a devastating blow to Indonesia's economy, which also caused Suharto's prestige to drop significantly, because the Indonesian people were now living in misery and mourning everywhere.

Although all of this had little to do with Suharto himself and could be considered an inevitable result—even developed countries like Japan and South Korea could not escape this financial storm—he was now the national leader, so this responsibility had to be borne by him.

The most tragic thing was that after the financial storm that began in July last year, Indonesia's economy had already suffered heavy losses. After international hot money left Southeast Asia, Indonesia's economy was originally slowly recovering, but just after recovering a little vitality, international hot money swept through Southeast Asia again at the beginning of this year, causing Indonesia to suffer a painful blow once again.

Now the impression of Suharto among the Indonesian people had dropped to freezing point. Just at this time, those Indonesian Chinese merchants who had retreated unscathed during the financial storm secretly contacted some anti-Suharto political forces in Indonesia, most of whom were pro-China opposition leaders, and launched a vigorous anti-Suharto movement.

Su Xinghui hoped to use this to make Suharto step down and let a pro-China president take office, so that the anti-Chinese tragedy could be avoided. However, Suharto's prestige was really too high, and it seemed that there was little hope for him to step down now.

Su Xinghui said, "Then you must also make some preparations in advance. If any tragedy really happens, it can make the losses of Indonesian Chinese smaller."

Mi Xiuyuan nodded and said, "We have already thought of this. We have already made quite a few preparations in advance. If anything really happens, these preparations will play a big role."

Su Xinghui nodded. This was all he could do now. Even if the tragedy eventually happened as it did in history, he could consider that he had done his best and would not have too much psychological pressure. ===== CHAPTER 2147 =====