"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! ”

A series of cannon shots rang out, and before the dust settled, more than a dozen engineering vehicles roared forward. Large chunks of rocks that had been crumbled by explosives were grabbed by the huge pincers of the grab machine and thrown into a large minecart with a load of more than 100 tons. Behind them were large bulldozers that looked like hills, shoveling through them, leaving only a flat foundation.

Farther afield, groups of road-building machinery are busy, rails, sleepers, and steel beams are put together like building blocks, and a newly-seen heavy-haul railway runs through the winding Andes Mountains to the eastern shore of the Pacific Ocean.

"It's been so fast." Condori, Bolivia's minister in charge of industry, stood on a hill on the side of the construction site, looking at the entire construction site, and his mouth was so happy that he couldn't close his mouth. Once the railway is completed, Bolivia, which is located in the interior of South America, will have an easy access to the sea, and the economic take-off is just around the corner, and as a minister of industry, Condori feels that he is fainting with happiness.

If you want to get rich, you must first build roads, this principle applies all over the world, but with Bolivia's national strength, it is difficult to imagine building a railway of this scale. For many years, because of the bottleneck of transportation, Mutong iron ore and other tin ore, lithium ore, zinc ore and antimony ore with rich reserves can only be buried deep in the ground, and no one cares about it.

Guarding a lot of treasures and living like a beggar is a true portrayal of Bolivia. This mineral-rich country is almost the poorest in all of South America, and its neighbouring Brazil has almost 10 times the GDP per capita of Bolivia. The reason for this is none other than the poor transportation conditions in Bolivia, the inability to transport mineral products and the inability to develop industry.

However, that all changed quietly on the day a company called Hanhua Heavy Industries came to set up an office in the Bolivian province of Santa Cruz. The Hanhua office started with only 4 people, and in less than half a year, it increased to 40 people.

Half of these people ran day and night into the ravine. Wherever there is a mine, they will appear there, holding a notebook to inquire about the mine's reserves, development status, the birth date of the mine owner, the eight generations of ancestors and other information. The other half of the people go in and out of government departments at all levels and various high-end clubs. There are great conversations and jokes, and there is no vain exchange, and in just a few months, all the high-ranking government officials have become their friends.

Later, the real big boss appeared, these are two middle-aged people, one is named Zhao Yongqun, and the title written on the business card is the general manager of China Hanhua Heavy Industry Group Mining Company. The other is He Fei, who claims to be the marketing manager of Hanhua Heavy Industries. Under the introduction of Fang Lei, director of the Hanhua Office in Bolivia, the two people were quickly received by the President of Bolivia. After some closed-door consultations, the president summoned the Minister of Industry, Condori, and appointed him to take charge of receiving the two "honorable" Chinese guests, and repeatedly told him to fully meet the demands of the Chinese guests.

Condori was at first a little puzzled, wondering what China, on the other side of the world, almost foot-to-foot with Bolivia, had to do with him. But when the two Chinese guests explained their intentions, every pore of Condori became hot.

"We plan to provide a loan to Bolivia to build a heavy-haul railway from Santa Cruz to the Chilean port of Antofagasta. At the same time, it is planned to develop the Mutong iron ore mine. It aims to reach an annual production capacity of 50 million tons of iron ore by the end of 2005. He Fei said to Condori in a calm tone.

"1,500 kilometers of heavy-haul railway, at least $8 billion in investment, can you provide such a large loan?" Condori asked suspiciously.

Zhao Yongqun, who looked five big and three thick, and had an honest appearance, replied coaxingly: "Qian ...... Not a problem. "And the Mutong iron ore mine, if we want to build a production capacity of 50 million tons, we have calculated that at least 4 billion US dollars will be needed, and this money ......," Kondori continued.

This time it was He Fei's turn to answer, he smiled and said, "Our financing ability." Your Excellency the Minister has no need to worry. As for the way in which your country will repay these loans, we have already discussed it with Mr. President, and it is sufficient to use the mined iron ore to repay them. ”

Condori's first feeling was that he had met a liar, which is not uncommon in South America, but he came to cheat with an oriental face. It's the first time he's met. After a few perfunctory words, he hurried back to the office and asked his subordinates to help him find information about China Hanhua Heavy Industries Group. After reading the information, Condori sat down in the large swivel chair and was speechless for a long time.

"What's wrong with you, Minister?" The subordinate asked timidly.

Condori sat up suddenly, suddenly folded his hands, closed his eyes, and muttered: "Thank you, O Lord Almighty, for bringing the Gospel to Bolivia......

Negotiations between the Bolivian government and GCA went very smoothly, at a time when international iron ore prices had not yet begun to rise, and the Mutong iron ore mine had no economic value in the eyes of the world. In his heart, Condori decided that He Fei and Zhao Yongqun were two internationals, and that they had come to Bolivia to fulfill their international obligations. Regarding the mining rights of iron ore and the way of cooperation, the Bolivian side hardly has any trouble for Hanhua, and they only think about one point, that is, to sign the contract as soon as possible, and then talk about this unjust big boss first.

After the signing of the first phase of the cooperation agreement, the news of the increase in iron ore prices began to come out one after another, and Condori realized that the Chinese had already planned it. If the price of iron ore rises further, then the Chinese' investment in the Mutong iron ore mine, as well as the investment in building the railway, will pay off handsomely.

Despite this, the Bolivian government is still sticking to the cooperation agreement it signed with Hanhua, agreeing that Hanhua will acquire a 50% mining right to the Mutong iron ore mine. Doing business is meant to be a win-win situation, and for Bolivia, it is already satisfying to be able to obtain such an investment, and as for how much GCA can make from it, it is their ability. If you don't let others make money, why should others come all the way to give you money?

Soon, Chinese government officials arrived and offered the Bolivian government a $10 billion development loan to build a heavily haul rail line from Santa Cruz to Antofagasta that Hanhua had previously proposed. Since the loan was provided by the Chinese side, the construction of the railway line was naturally contracted to the Chinese railway construction company. China Railway Corporation sent a team of five branches in one go, divided the 1,500-kilometer-long line into dozens of bid sections, and started construction at the same time, and the project progress was fast, which can be called the world's first.

The construction of the mine is also in full swing, and Zhao Yongqun, the general manager of the mining company, is said to be a sand turner, and he has inexhaustible energy. Geological survey, construction drawing preparation, equipment installation, site leveling and other work were completed in the shortest possible time, and the training of thousands of local miners was also carried out intensively. Everywhere in the mines, you can see large slogans written in Chinese and Spanish: Time is money, efficiency is life.

"I really don't understand, why do you Chinese work so hard?" Condori rubbed his waist and asked He Fei, these days, Condori has become the busiest government official in the whole of Bolivia, busy between the railway site and the mining area every day, so tired that his big belly has disappeared. But he also has to admit that compared to the Chinese, the intensity of his work is almost like a vacation. ..., He Fei replied: "This is because we are poor in China, and if we are poor, we will think about change." ”

Condori shook his head: "If you want to talk about poverty, we in Bolivia are poorer than you in China, but you look at our workers, after work, they would rather sit in a bar and drink some beer than mainly work overtime like your workers." People are born to enjoy life, and if you're as busy as you are, do you have time to enjoy life? ”

He Fei said with a smile: "Maybe it's because Chinese have always had a sense of crisis." South America is a paradise that has never experienced the looting of war, and China has been bullied, so the Chinese have always had a creed, that is, backwardness must be beaten. In order to not fall behind, we have to sacrifice some enjoyment and push forward as much as possible. ”

"Well, to be honest, I still admire your enthusiasm for your work." Condori said insincerely.

"Minister Condori, speaking of enthusiasm for work, I have to say in advance that, according to General Manager Zhao's briefing to me, the work enthusiasm of the miners we recruited locally is very unsatisfactory. I'm worried that with their attitude, our design production capacity will be difficult to achieve. He Fei wasted no time in complaining.

"Is there such a thing?" Condori was surprised, "This group of miners seems to be all workers in the original mine, right?" They should have a lot of work experience. ”

He Fei said: "This is exactly the case. Of the 4,000 workers currently being trained, 2,000 are former mine workers and 2,000 are newly recruited. During the training, it was found that it was precisely those workers in the original mine who had the worst attitude and were very difficult to manage. Newly recruited workers often don't have such problems. ”

Condori's eyebrows furrowed into a pimple, and he said in embarrassment: "This is not very easy to do, according to the agreement, after you have acquired the mining rights, you must accept the original miners." As for how these miners worked in the past, I can ask the original mine owner again. However, no matter what, they must stay in the mines, and this is what our government promises to the miners. ”

"Okay, then let's figure it out ourselves." He Fei replied.

"Don't worry, if there is any problem at that time, our government will be on the side of investors." Condori patted He Fei on the shoulder and said hypocritically. (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation and monthly passes, and your support is my biggest motivation. )