Twenty years of cold chain

Under the moonlight, a man leaned on the railing of the pier leading to the dock, gazing at the sea. He wore a dark gray long-sleeved shirt that reached almost to his knees, and brown leather shoes that went above his ankles. He was of medium build.

The sea breeze was gentle and the temperature was neither cold nor dry.

Hearing the soft footsteps, he turned around and immediately smiled when he saw Hu Shutong.

"Mr. Hu, we've finally met."

"The mysterious cryopreservation expert has finally been unveiled after all these years."

At this moment, there was no awkwardness or unease as one might expect upon first meeting; both were quite composed. Guo Xiangxu had helped Hu Shutong out of a difficult situation, and Hu Shutong had done a lot for him in return, through forum posts, text messages, and the back-and-forth of proposals and emails.

Hu Shutong had long realized that this man was a rare industry leader. Back when Hu Shutong had just graduated from university, this man was already able to make decisive decisions regarding the selection of vehicles for the Panhu Demonstration Port. Before the Panhu Fishing Port was even published in the newspapers, this man had already discussed planning issues with Hu Shutong, and later strongly promoted the three-zone planning proposal, using the data without changing a single detail.

Of course, Guo Xiangxu's view of Hu Shutong was different from others. He found it hard to believe that another master's graduate without any background or connections could achieve what Hu had done in just three years.

The two of them, hands in their pockets, slowly walked along the pier.

"Some people want to turn the fishing port into a nested doll, with large enterprises wrapping up small enterprises, and with a little negotiation between the two sides, it's easy to reach an agreement on interests. Once this is agreed upon, the expert group is nothing more than a knife in someone else's hand."

Hu Shutong nodded and said, "I have seen the expert group's plan. The area of ​​the cold chain logistics zone is actually very small. It is completely unnecessary to build nineteen office buildings and nineteen separate factory areas in such a small space."

Guo Xiangxu paused for a moment and then said, "Ten of these nineteen companies have their headquarters concentrated within a 400-kilometer radius of the fishing port. The fish leave the fishing port and then gather outside the port, replacing the large warehouses here with small warehouses, squeezing out the existing market with lower transportation costs. What is the point of the fishing port?"

"Six of them started in real estate and saw the potential of the fishing port. They hastily invested and established cold chain subsidiaries before the Lunar New Year. They have no experience in cold chain operations at all, and they may not even do it themselves in the future. They will give the seat to a third-party investor and make a fortune just from one spot. If this continues, the fishing port will lose its original character from the very beginning."

Hu Shutong was secretly astonished. These were things he had never expected. He finally understood why even Guo Xiangxu couldn't resist him. It turned out that there was such a terrifying financial alliance behind it.

What is Guo Xiangxu pushing so hard for? Where exactly does the conflict lie?

This brings us to the planning made by Hu Shutong.

In Hu Shutong's plan, the entire cold chain logistics zone consists of only one office building, accommodating all the office and business personnel of the resident companies, with no private land. All other land is used to jointly build an open-air cold chain operation area, which includes neither civil engineering warehouses nor assembly warehouses.

Some people may wonder, how do the companies that move in manage to ship their goods if they don't even have their own cold storage?

The answer is simple: the entire fishing port is the largest cold storage facility, making it unnecessary to conduct an additional storage and transshipment within the industrial park. Once cold chain companies move in, they can either load goods directly from the dock or retrieve them from the port's million-ton-level storage area.

Essentially, this is a matter of efficiency. It's about minimizing the backlog of seafood at fishing ports and quickly distributing it to markets across the country. The mission of cold chain companies should be to rapidly move seafood to their own cold storage facilities and then distribute it to various local markets, rather than keeping it stuck at fishing ports as their base.

It must be said that this step of planning is crucial. A thriving economy is the future of a fishing port, and only by ensuring the free flow of goods can a fishing port truly flourish. From the perspective of someone who has been in the industry for many years, if the channels are blocked from the outset, one day the fishing port will lose its openness and autonomy.

But not everyone can see that moment, which is why Guo Xiangxu never compromised no matter the pressure he faced. If this situation couldn't be controlled, all previous plans would be tarnished.

The night wind blows and the sound of waves rises.

Guo Xiangxu glanced at Hu Shutong out of the corner of his eye. Sometimes, the speaker cannot understand the writer's true thoughts. Now that a relative had arrived, he couldn't help but ask.

"Sometimes, no matter how much you argue in private, it's not as good as having a face-to-face debate. If this continues, everyone will just stick to their own opinions. The best way is for us to state our own views and then let others judge."

Guo Xiangxu didn't need to ask any more questions; he already understood. However, this approach was like a court hearing. Once a decision was made, there was no room for negotiation. Unpredictable variables could make the final decision without giving people a chance to think it over. It was not a decision to be made lightly.

Although Guo Xiangxu's true identity is unknown, Hu Shutong's eyes are resolute. "The fishing port should be open, allowing cold chain enterprises of all sizes that understand cold chain channels and can reach all parts of the country to come in, so that the fishing port can truly radiate outwards. That is the value of the cold chain logistics zone."

"Yes, we desperately need companies that are truly on the move."

"Just like my teacher said, we need our own alliance, and I think the cluster of enterprises in the cold chain logistics zone is the perfect platform. Right now, sharing is our best way out."

These words startled Guo Xiangxu. "Our alliance? Yes, we should have had our alliance a long time ago."

"Mr. Hu, if we lose, Tongxing will have no chance at all."

"It doesn't matter. Anyway, being with these companies is like being a kindergarten kid. Everyone is from a wealthy family, while Tongxing is incredibly poor. It's better not to come to these kinds of events."

"That doesn't sound like the truth."

"The main problem is that if each family really wanted a building and a factory, Tongxing couldn't afford that kind of money."

"Now I believe you."

Guo Xiangxu looked at Hu Shutong and laughed.

……

I've loved cold chain logistics for twenty years.