Hearing Qin Hai's request, Cui Hongchun smiled slightly and said: "Sure enough, as the chief expected, when we went to report the price increase of iron ore to the central government, the chief said that Qin Hai would definitely take the initiative to ask for help, and he also made a bet with our chief director for this matter." ”

"Uh......" Qin Hai was sweating profusely, and the two central leaders made a bet for him, this picture was so beautiful that he didn't dare to imagine it. After a short period of astonishment, Qin Hai asked, "Uncle Cui, the matter of iron ore actually alarmed the central leadership?" ”

Cui Hongchun nodded and said, "The price increase of iron ore can be said to be small or big. To put it mildly, it just affects an industry, although the price increase of upstream raw materials will bring a chain reaction of downstream products, but the amount of less than 10 billion US dollars a year will not have much impact on the national economy. But to put it mildly, iron ore can rise in price, copper ore, crude oil, timber, soybeans and other commodities can also rise in price, if we can't explore a mechanism to deal with price fluctuations in the international market, then we will be subject to others on various occasions, which is a great risk for our country. Therefore, the central leading comrades have attached great importance to the issue of rising iron ore prices and instructed the Development and Planning Commission, the Economic and Trade Commission, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, and other departments to actively deal with it. ”

"So, what does the central leadership mean?" Qin Hai asked again.

Cui Hongchun said: "The central government hopes that the Economic and Trade Commission can organize iron and steel enterprises to unite and jointly negotiate with Vale and BHP Billiton to obtain a reasonable price." ”

Qin Haidao: "This idea is right, so what does the Economic and Trade Commission plan to do?" ”

Cui Hongchun smiled bitterly: "The idea is completely fine, but to implement it, it is not so simple." Every enterprise has its own difficulties, and the jurisdiction of the Economic and Trade Commission over the enterprises is limited, and it is impossible to use the method of administrative orders to demand how the enterprises should do things. A few days ago, I asked the comrades below to count it. At present, there are more than 500 iron and steel enterprises and foreign trade enterprises with iron ore import qualifications in the country, and it is too difficult to make these more than 500 enterprises act in sync. ”

"So what to do?" Qin Hai asked curiously.

Cui Hongchun pointed at Qin Hai with a smile and said, "No, we are counting on you to solve this contradiction." ”

"Me?" Qin Hai was stunned for a moment, and then laughed as well. said: "Director Cui, you are too much of a bully, and I am not from your Economic and Trade Commission, and the Economic and Trade Commission has not even paid me a penny of salary." Before, I was asked to help clean up the small steel, and now I am asked to help preside over the iron ore negotiations, which is completely Lazhuangding. ”

Cui Hongchun said with a fake face: "Didn't you take the initiative to do this just now?" You forgot in a blink of an eye? ”

"I'm just talking, are you serious?" Qin Hai said playfully.

Actually, Qin Hai's words were just a polite remark, from his heart. He really wanted to be the presiding officer. He knows that officials have too many worries about doing things, and it is impossible to defeat their opponents in such international business negotiations without a firm will. Many of China's international cooperation issues have created opportunities for the other side because of internal conflicts of interest, and in the end it has to passively accept all kinds of unfavorable terms.

Compared with. Qin Hailai is much more comfortable doing this, and he has his own enterprise behind him as support. When taking various measures, there is no need to look ahead and backward, even if some things are not in accordance with the rules, no one will come to him with the provisions. Just like this, when I was governing small iron and steel before, I encountered the small steel owners making trouble and the media exposed things, and replaced him with an official. may have bowed his head a long time ago, but Qin Hai was able to remain unmoved, and even used more evil means to fight back.

Qin Hai's offer to lead the iron ore negotiations is not entirely due to patriotism, as his own Daqin Group has an annual output of 50 million tons of steel. The consumption of iron ore is also very large, and the rise in iron ore prices directly affects the interests of the group. Song Hongxuan made an estimate that if the price of iron ore rises by 40 US dollars per ton, Daqin Group's annual iron ore raw material expenditure will increase by more than 3 billion US dollars, equivalent to more than 20 billion yuan. Such a large profit is also worth Qin Hai's running.

"Uncle Cui, I want to ask, if we are designated by Daqin Group to lead the iron ore negotiations, how much authority can the Economic and Trade Commission give us?"

After saying the polite words before, Qin Hai began to become serious and asked Cui Hongchun.

Cui Hongchun didn't answer, but asked rhetorically: "What kind of permission do you need?" ”

"First of all, iron ore import authority must be compressed. I hope that the Economic and Trade Commission will coordinate with the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation to re-examine the import and export authority of various agencies and reduce the import and export rights of iron ore to 30, so that we can coordinate and avoid cannibalism. Qin Hai said.

Cui Hongchun frowned and said: "There is no problem in compressing the import right, but it is probably a little difficult to press until there are only 30 left." I'll do the math for you, the more than a dozen large foreign trade enterprises in the central government can't be without, right? Nearly 20 large iron and steel enterprises in the country, by the way, including Daqin Iron and Steel Company, which belongs to your Daqin Group, can they not have the right to import iron ore? All provinces and municipalities, as well as cities with separate plans, must retain at least one trading company with import rights, so that there are more than 30 again. Plus some special types of businesses...... At the very least, more than 120 must be retained. ”

Qin Hai grinned, showed a mocking smile, and said: "This is the problem of your government, this must also be considered, and that must be taken care of, and nothing can be done in the end." ”

Cui Hongchun said: "There is no way to do this, the central government can't do a word, if you want to let various departments and local governments do things, you have to take care of their interests, right?" If it is too wide, it is easy to mess up; But if you manage too much, the system will be rigid. If nothing else, if I deprive your Daqin Iron and Steel Company of its import rights, would you be willing? ”

"Okay." Qin Hai was defeated, what Cui Hongchun said made sense, as an entrepreneur, Qin Hai himself was willing to have more autonomy in his hands. It is also a reasonable demand that the major iron and steel companies and provinces and municipalities hope to have some authority, and the Economic and Trade Commission would rather lose the iron ore negotiations than embarrass the units below on such an issue.

"Even if they retain their import rights, they are required not to sign iron ore import agreements with foreign businessmen within this year, and all agreements must be reviewed by the Economic and Trade Commission before they can be signed, which is not too high, right?" Qin Hai asked.

Cui Hongchun thought about it, wrote a note in his notebook with a pen, and said: "I need to discuss this matter with a few leaders, I can only say that I will do my best." At present, the state emphasizes the need to streamline administration and delegate power, and we should not interfere too much in the business behavior of enterprises. ”

"That's the price of marketization." Qin Hai let out a long sigh.

The unified planning system has its rigid side, but it still has its advantages when it comes to things such as iron ore negotiations, and at least it can avoid the behavior of various enterprises tearing each other down. As a private entrepreneur, Qin Hai does not want the whole system to return to the planning mode, but at this time, he is a little nostalgic for the way in which the central government has the final say.

Sighing to sighing, Qin Hai knew that he was powerless to reverse the tide of history, all he could do was to give full play to his wisdom and talents under the existing system and do things the best.

"I hope that the Economic and Trade Commission will give me a name, so that I can negotiate with various steel companies alone, otherwise if the name is not right, it will not be good, and people will not even be interested in meeting me." Qin Hai demanded.

"If you Chairman Qin Da go to visit the iron and steel company, I'm afraid everyone will have to welcome you, right?" Cui Hongchun made a joke, and then said: "It's not difficult to get a name, we are considering setting up a coordination group for iron ore imports, and if the central government can approve it, you should continue to be the deputy leader." ”

"Another working group." Qin Hai smiled, "You can't be a little creative, what are the names of individual names?" ”

Cui Hongchun also smiled: "If you have any good ideas, you can suggest them, we old brains can only come up with such a name." ”

"Well, forget it, it's good to call the working group." Qin Hai also had no interest in innovation, he nodded and agreed, "Then I'll continue to be the deputy team leader." ”

It is the common practice of the Government to refer to the various agencies that carry out the integrated coordination work as "working groups". Not to mention such trivial matters as iron ore negotiations, even major projects such as the large-scale development of the western region and the revitalization of the old industrial base in Northeast China, which are of great importance in the new century, are also called "small groups," and state leaders often have to deign to be the leaders of a small group.

This kind of conventional name is more familiar to officials in the system, and if it is really as Qin Hai said, it may have the effect of adding to the snake. Facts have proved that every time Qin Hai goes to the local place with the title of "deputy team leader", it really makes people feel a little unconscious.

After implementing the issue of the title, the next step was to formulate policies, issue documents, and establish a multi-departmental coordination mechanism, and Cui Hongchun discussed them with Qin Hai one by one. Qin Hai originally came prepared, with many well-thought-out ideas, and Cui Hongchun proposed amendments to these ideas based on his own work experience and the requirements of the central government's work. Both sides are acquaintances, and there is no need to be afraid of face, and various points of view are put forward openly and honestly, which also saves the cost of communication.

When he came out of Cui Hongchun's office, Qin Hai already had a Shang Fang sword in his hand. However, he himself knows that the sword in his hand is not something that can be cut casually, and if he wants others to cooperate with his work, the most fundamental way is to convince people with virtue. (To be continued......)