Chapter 2816: Baizhou Special Steel

These days, Su Xinghui was busy with work and couldn't accompany his friends who had come to Baizhou, so he had Xia Song take them around to enjoy Baizhou's winter scenery for several days.

Those most interested in Baizhou's winter scenery were mainly southerners like Mi Xiuyuan; this was their first time visiting such a northern place, and they found the icy snowscapes fascinating.

This past Saturday, Su Xinghui invited them all to dinner.

As soon as they sat down, Su Xinghui smiled and asked, "How have you all been enjoying yourselves in Baizhou these days?"

Mi Xiuyuan said, "Baizhou is truly fascinating—I've never seen snow this deep before."

In fact, Mi Xiuyuan wasn't entirely unfamiliar with snow—he'd been to many places and even studied in the U. S., so he'd seen snow before—but snow as deep as Baizhou's was truly his first experience.

The snow in Baizhou City had accumulated at least dozens of centimeters thick; of course, it had all melted along the roads due to de-icing agents, but in the wilderness and on the mountains, the snow remained.

Xie Junqiang also said, "Yes, the snow on the mountains must be one or two feet deep—it's so fascinating. We built a huge snowman and took photos—I'll bring them back to show my daughter; she'll love it and beg me to bring her next time."

Su Xinghui said, "The snow is the most interesting thing about Baizhou's winter. Brother Yu and others are planning to invest in building a large ski resort here—within two years, you'll be able to come and ski there."

Mi Xiuyuan said happily, "Really? Then we'll definitely come once the ski resort is built. Too bad I don't know how to ski."

Hou Wenhai laughed and said, "I'll teach you then—I know how to ski."

Hou Wenhai was born and raised in France and had skied countless times in ski resorts like the Alps, so he was skilled and quite proficient.

Mi Xiuyuan, Xie Junqiang, Xu Xiaoguang, and Min Tong all cheered loudly—they had never skied before, and the idea of skiing here filled them with excitement.

Su Xinghui raised his cup and said, "Come, let me toast you all—thank you for coming to Baizhou to support me."

Hou Wenhai and the others were now wealthy and powerful, with countless daily responsibilities, yet when Su Xinghui called, they immediately came—this truly moved Su Xinghui.

Hou Wenhai raised his cup and said, "Don't be so formal with us—we're friends. When a friend needs help, how could we not come?"

The others echoed Hou Wenhai's words, and they all drank the toast, smiling at each other.

After drinking, Hou Wenhai said, "Xinghui, since everyone's here, just tell us what you need—we'll help without hesitation."

Su Xinghui said, "The most urgent matter now is the shareholding reform of some state-owned enterprises in the city, to create employment opportunities for Baizhou's laid-off workers. I invited the people from Pengjiawan Special Steel Factory specifically for this—Baizhou has nearly a hundred thousand laid-off workers, and their lives are too hard."

Xu Xiaoguang said, "Isn't this outside your jurisdiction? What benefit do you get from doing this?"

Su Xinghui shook his head and said, "I personally gain nothing for now, but for Baizhou's laid-off workers, there's plenty of benefit."

They were all longtime friends and understood Su Xinghui well—without further words, they all nodded in agreement to help.

Su Xinghui was very pleased and raised his cup again to toast them.

Hou Wenhai said, "Xinghui, I hear Baizhou City has a television factory, right?"

Su Xinghui nodded and said, "Yes, there's a TV factory—it's not doing well these days. Brother Wenhai, are you considering cooperating with them?"

In the 1980s and 1990s, many places in China launched or upgraded various electronics factories; TV manufacturers were the most numerous, because at that time few Chinese households owned such appliances, so demand exploded, giving rise to a large number of such factories.

These electronics factories all enjoyed brief prosperity, with strong production and sales; Baizhou TV Factory had once been a star enterprise of the city, consistently among its top taxpayers.

Back then, no matter how many TVs Baizhou TV Factory produced, they all sold out—the workers were highly sought-after, and finding a wife became much easier.

But like many state-owned enterprises, by the late 1990s and early 2000s, Baizhou TV Factory fell into difficulty—this was because the low-end market gradually saturated, and due to outdated technology, they couldn't capture any share of the high-end market.

This highlights the serious management problems in these state-owned enterprises, which were also tied to their operational model.

Once, everything about state-owned enterprises was controlled by the government: managers were government officials, raw materials were allocated by the state, production and sales followed state plans, and profits and taxes were directly handed over to the state, leaving them with almost no internal reserves; when they needed funds, they had to wait for state allocation.

This model made it nearly impossible for state-owned enterprises to accumulate funds for technological upgrades, so most couldn't afford major R&D investments and simply drifted along.

In the tide of market economy, their technology grew increasingly outdated—it was only natural they fell into difficulty.

Hou Wenhai said, "Our Hou Family Electronics Factory has already built several production bases nationwide, but we still don't have one in Yanbei Province. If this TV factory's condition is suitable, I'd be interested in cooperating—essentially establishing a production base in Yanbei Province."

The Hou Family Group's electronics factories, due to their advanced technology and strong quality control, currently hold a high market share in China's premium electronics market and have been expanding production and nationwide layout, already establishing several production bases.

If they built a production base in Yanbei Province, it would benefit their coverage of the northern market—so in this sense, cooperating with Baizhou TV Factory would be mutually beneficial.

Su Xinghui said, "Good, Brother Wenhai—I'll arrange for you to visit Baizhou TV Factory as soon as possible. If you think the conditions are acceptable, you can begin negotiations."

Hou Wenhai nodded and said, "Alright, please arrange it quickly."

Mi Xiuyuan said, "In that case, we'll also take a look around Baizhou these days—if we find suitable projects, we can invest too."

Xie Junqiang and Min Tong both nodded in agreement.

Xu Xiaoguang said, "Then let's register a branch company in Baizhou and get into real estate development—it's a business that can absorb a lot of laid-off workers."