I'm in the county town, and you say I'm a big shot?

Chapter 678 Wang Xing of Yanjing also pays attention to the pilot project
“Chairman Fang, when your pilot program was discussed at the Standing Committee meeting, our Secretary Li said that it has presented Jinghai with a wonderful but difficult problem.” Zhang Pengyuan’s smile was gentle, but his tone was serious.

"The protection of workers in new employment forms is a focus of national and social concern. However, it is undeniable that we will encounter many complex problems that we cannot foresee. Nevertheless, Jinghai is willing to be a 'testing ground' for innovation and exploration."

"Thank you for the support of the municipal party committee and government leaders for our work." Fang Qingye replied, "Since it is a pilot project, we will definitely encounter many difficulties and problems. However, I think that as long as both sides consider the problem from the perspective of solving the problem and relieving the riders' worries, we can find a solution! There are always more solutions than problems."

"Hehe. It seems Chairman Fang is quite optimistic." Zhang Pengyuan smiled and continued, "I also hope the pilot program will be successful, but there are a few bottom lines we must uphold: First, the safety of the social security fund must not be compromised, this is an ironclad rule; second, it must not cause major social unrest, and we must ensure a smooth transition; third, the model must be sustainable and replicable, and cannot be a 'bonsai' where Ele.me burns money and the government provides unlimited support."

Fang Qingye nodded in agreement: "Mayor Zhang, what you said is exactly what we've been thinking about. Ele.me is not here to shirk its responsibilities; we are here to work together to find solutions. Our initial idea is: technical verification to ensure 'identity and credentials match,' policy innovation to provide diverse options, and a transitional period for flexible implementation. However, we desperately need strong support from the government in terms of policy interpretation, data collaboration, and public service integration."

"Don't worry about that. Our municipal government has set up a joint task force, headed by Mayor Hu himself, with key officials from departments such as Human Resources and Social Security, Medical Insurance, Taxation, and Market Supervision participating. They will work seamlessly with your team. If we encounter policy bottlenecks, we'll work together to find ways to 'bypass' or 'open up new avenues'!"

The meeting lasted forty minutes.

Actually, this was just a formality; the real negotiations were just beginning. Deng Ye was in charge of the Ele.me team, while Zhou Mao, the director of the Human Resources Bureau of Jinghai City, presided over the meeting. The two sides moved to the sixth conference room of the municipal government to discuss the specific details of the cooperation.

Zhang Xuhao had to rush back to Shanghai to attend a training session organized by relevant departments in the PD district for internet companies to learn about the newly promulgated National Security Law, while Fang Qingye returned to Nanxin.

Ele.me is going to launch a pilot program for rider social security contributions in Nanxin!
The news was published on the official website of the Jinghai Municipal Government and quickly reposted by internet portals such as NetEase, Sina, and Sohu, but it did not attract much attention.

Compared to last year's battle between Ele.me and Meituan, in which Ele.me ultimately "swallowed" Meituan, and this year's merger of Didi and Kuaidi, and Alibaba's acquisition of Youku Tudou, these are simply insignificant.

However, Wang Xing in Yanjing saw this message.

Wang Xing is currently the CEO of Li Auto Co., Ltd., but unlike the Li Auto founded by Li Xiang in the past, he is cooperating with Yanjing Auto and claims to be creating China's Tesla. In addition to investing 40 billion yuan himself, he has also brought in companies such as JD.com and 360 to invest huge sums of money, showing his ambitious plans.

Today, Wang Xing was browsing the news online in his office when he saw this message.

Is Fang Qingye really going to provide social security for the delivery riders?
He was looking at it intently when the office door was knocked open, and a man of similar age to him entered: Wang Huiwen, COO of Li Auto.

Wang Huiwen and Wang Xing were classmates at Tsinghua University. Wang Huiwen co-founded Xiaonei.com and Meituan with Wang Xing. The two have a close relationship and are known in the industry as best buddies.

After the merger with Meituan, Wang Xing sold his shares and left. Wang Huiwen also sold his shares and left with Wang Xing, returning to Yanjing to co-found the Li Auto brand.

In fact, many of Li Auto's executives were core figures at Meituan. They left Ele.me one after another and followed Wang Xing. This time, they left the internet dominated by BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent) and chose to enter the car manufacturing industry again.

Seeing Wang Xing staring intently at the screen, Wang Huiwen smiled and asked, "Brother Xing, what are you looking at so intently?" "Take a look," Wang Xing said, turning the computer screen around.

Wang Huiwen glanced at it a few times, a worried look on his face: "Brother Xing, are you still thinking about Meituan? That's a thing of the past. Now, our car manufacturing is no worse than our food delivery business."

“No, you’re wrong. I wasn’t thinking about Meituan.” Wang Xing shook his head. “I started my business with Renren.com and have already worked on several projects. Meituan is just one of them. I mean, Fang Qingye really started paying social security for the riders.”

"Oh," Wang Huiwen finally understood the key point that Wang Xing was focusing on.

“Huiwen, do you know that before I resigned from Ele.me, I made a special trip to Nanxin to see Fang Qingye?”

“You said you wanted to resign in person, after all, he is the chairman of the board.”

"Yes, but we didn't just talk about resigning; we talked about this too," Wang Xing explained, pointing to the screen.
“I was the one who asked him at the time. Neither Meituan nor Ele.me pays social security for their riders. As the food delivery industry booms and the number of riders increases, this problem will become more and more prominent. If social security is paid for riders, it will be a huge expense that neither Ele.me nor Meituan can afford.”

“But if we don’t provide social security, we still can’t withstand the pressure of public opinion and supervision. I said at the time that I couldn’t think of a solution. He also admitted that this was a very difficult problem.”

"Before I left, I smiled and told him to watch how he solved the problem, actually hoping he wouldn't act rashly. I didn't expect him to actually start working on it now!"

After listening to Wang Xing's words, Wang Huiwen remained silent for a moment before saying, "Brother Xing, do you think this pilot project will be successful?"

"I don't know the specifics of the pilot program, so I can't make a judgment, but I know it will be very difficult to resolve, not only due to internal financial pressures and investor pressures at Ele.me, but also external pressures."

“It seems Fang Qingye also knows the difficulties involved, which is why he chose his hometown as the pilot site. After all, he is very familiar with the local government leaders, making communication and coordination easier,” Wang Huiwen echoed.

“Yes, nothing is easy.” Wang Xing sighed, then suddenly smiled: “But I really admire Fang Qingye for making this decision. Although we used to be rivals, I’ve always held a grudge about Ele.me’s acquisition of Meituan.”

"But I do hope he succeeds in this regard."

Wang Xing was just expressing his feelings, but the negotiations between Ele.me's team and the relevant departments in Jinghai City took everyone by surprise, including Fang Qingye.

It was extremely difficult.

(End of this chapter)