Chapter 3202: Guests Like Clouds

Sure enough, Zhao Yichen's attendance at the welcome banquet gave the city leaders who came to participate in the economic cooperation forum a lot of face. Zhao Yichen was the Baozhou Municipal Party Committee Secretary, and according to the current situation, he was very likely to enter the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee during the next term.

For such a quasi-vice-provincial-level leader to personally welcome them, the face given was certainly not small, so these city leaders were all beaming with joy and looked very happy.

However, as the banquet progressed, Wei Ziming was not very happy because he felt that he, the mayor, was being slighted. It was one thing for these city leaders to value Zhao Yichen more, but they seemed to treat Su Xinghui with even more importance than they did him, the legitimate mayor.

In fact, these city leaders who came to Baozhou for the economic cooperation forum were not impolite to Wei Ziming; they still respected him very much. After all, Wei Ziming was the Mayor of Baozhou, and his status was no worse than theirs.

However, they did treat Su Xinghui with more importance because they knew that Su Xinghui had the ability to bring them benefits. What were these benefits? They were opportunities for economic development, which meant political achievements. Who didn't want to have better political achievements? Nowadays, the promotion of cadres mainly depended on political achievements in economic construction.

Therefore, they spoke to Wei Ziming almost out of courtesy, toasted him, and then all went to cozy up to Su Xinghui.

They had only heard before that Baozhou's economic development was rapid, but when they personally arrived in Baozhou, they realized just how well Baozhou had developed. Compared to the cities they were from, it was a world of difference.

This made them completely convinced of Su Xinghui's abilities. Since Su Xinghui was willing to lead them in development, they naturally had to give him face. Besides, if they didn't build a good relationship with Su Xinghui, what would they do if he stopped playing with them?

Watching these city leaders toast Su Xinghui one by one with such eagerness made Wei Ziming extremely jealous. Why was he so popular?

Wei Ziming had once wanted to build a good relationship with Su Xinghui and wanted Su Xinghui to lend him a hand to help him secure the position of Municipal Party Committee Secretary, but Su Xinghui had refused him almost point-blank, which made him hate Su Xinghui to the core.

Now, Su Xinghui was repeatedly stealing his thunder, so how could Wei Ziming have even a shred of good feeling toward Su Xinghui?

However, Wei Ziming had no choice. If others ignored him, he couldn't exactly force his hot face against their cold backsides, could he?

Therefore, Wei Ziming could only drink his wine in silence by himself.

Although Wei Ziming was unhappy, the atmosphere of the banquet was generally very good. Those city leaders were very respectful to Zhao Yichen and Su Xinghui and toasted them frequently. Although they didn't interact much in their daily lives, they felt like old friends today.

By the time the drinking was over, it was already past nine o'clock in the evening. Su Xinghui arranged for the guests to go to the rooms prepared for them so they could rest early and attend the Nanchang River Basin City Economic Cooperation Forum on time the next day.

This economic cooperation forum was scheduled to start at 8:30 the next morning. After resting for the night at the Baozhou Municipal Party Committee guesthouse, everyone woke up refreshed the next morning, had breakfast, and arrived at the venue early.

Last night, they had visited each other at the guesthouse, all wanting to find out how this economic cooperation forum was going to be conducted. They really had no concept of it and wanted to get some inside information from others. However, except for Chi Yongjun, who had some concept, everyone else was clueless. Chi Yongjun, of course, wouldn't take the initiative to tell others, so no one gained anything.

Therefore, everyone wanted to come early today; they didn't want to miss the content of this forum. They knew this concerned their grand plans for economic development.

The economic cooperation forum was held in the lobby on the first floor of the Municipal Party Committee guesthouse. After coming down from the restaurant, everyone went straight to the venue. At this time, Zhao Yichen, Wei Ziming, Xin Jing, Su Xinghui, and other main leaders of Baozhou had already arrived at the venue. They were smiling and welcoming the guests, letting them take their seats.

The Yanbei Daily and several television stations in Yanbei Province had sent reporters to cover this economic cooperation forum. In addition to the city leaders from neighboring cities, the guests also included experts and professors in economics from several famous domestic universities, whom Su Xinghui had specially invited to offer advice for this forum.

Besides these guests, senior management personnel from some Baozhou enterprises also participated in this economic cooperation forum. For example, Christoph, the General Manager of Baozhou Special Steel Plant; Pearson, the General Manager of Ernest Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd.; and Shu Cailiang, the General Manager of Niutouyu Ski Resort, all came to participate.

Soon, it was 8:30. Zhao Yichen was the first to walk onto the podium. Today, he looked particularly spirited. He said to the guests below, "Respected guests, reporters, first of all, please allow me, on behalf of the Baozhou Municipal Party Committee, to express our welcome to everyone. Welcome to the first Nanchang River Basin City Economic Cooperation Forum!"

Warm applause erupted from under the podium.

After the applause subsided, Zhao Yichen said, "The Nanchang River Basin City Economic Cooperation Forum, as the name implies, is to allow us cities in the Nanchang River Basin to be closely connected, strengthen cooperation in the economy, join hands, develop together, and achieve common prosperity. Therefore, I hope everyone can speak freely and find a development path that best suits us."

Amidst warm applause, Zhao Yichen stepped down, followed by Wei Ziming, who went up to speak. Although he was very reluctant, he had to say some polite words to welcome the guests.

When it was Su Xinghui's turn to go up, everyone knew that he was the real protagonist today. Su Xinghui was the true organizer of this economic cooperation forum.

After Su Xinghui went up, before he even opened his mouth, warm applause erupted from the audience. This was the treatment he had earned with his outstanding achievements over the years. Everyone could see how huge a change Baozhou City had undergone since Su Xinghui arrived. What was this? This was ability. People with ability were respected wherever they went.

Su Xinghui gestured to everyone repeatedly. After the applause subsided, he said, "Hello everyone, welcome to Baozhou to participate in the first Nanchang River Basin City Economic Cooperation Forum. Let us discuss together how to collaborate, how to develop together, and how to achieve common prosperity."

"However, I am not the protagonist today; the protagonists should be everyone here. Today, please speak freely, say what you think, spark ideas, and find a development path that best suits us cities in the Nanchang River Basin."

"The guests attending our economic cooperation forum today include leaders, experts, scholars, and enterprise managers. Everyone can elaborate on their thoughts on urban development from various aspects. You can say whatever you want, don't be constrained. Now, I announce that the first Nanchang River Basin City Economic Cooperation Forum has officially begun."

After Su Xinghui delivered his brief speech, he stepped down from the podium, and the host, Xiao Liu from the Mapu Automobile Industrial Park Management Committee Office, began to invite the guests to speak one by one according to the list.