Twenty years of cold chain

Hu Shutong and Jiang Zhipeng parted on bad terms. Before meeting, Hu Shutong's feelings were complicated, and after meeting, he felt even more depressed. He kept talking about the times, but he only saw the dark side and believed that he had many colleagues lying in wait. He turned the act of crossing the line into "we are the ones who bear the burden of this era."

This leads to a kind of fatalism, proclaiming that "someone will always have to do this kind of thing." Once these things are torn apart, a person's conceptual framework collapses. Even if it is wrong, he will stick to his beliefs, even if he is just a rusty shell, it is better than being a walking corpse.

Words fail to express the extent of his suffering; let him reflect on his seven years in prison.

Hu Shutong rushed to the outskirts of Shibei County, which is the border area between Songyuan and Pingqiu counties.

It is here that the Sunshine Vegetable Project, which provides counterpart support to the disaster area, is about to be launched. Based on the types of vegetables to be grown, more than 100 farmers from the two nearby counties have been selected to build more than 1,000 vegetable greenhouses. These vegetables will be directly supplied to the disaster area for many years to come.

This matter received great attention from the Provincial Party Committee. On the day of the launch ceremony, a leadership team was sent over. Tongxing, as the designated transportation provider, also sent Hu Shutong.

At the ceremony, Hu Shutong saw Lei Xiaoxi again. Although she was still the section chief, Lei Xiaoxi was no longer the same person she used to be.

At the beginning of autumn, Lei Xiaoxi was transferred to the Provincial Development and Reform Commission, serving as the director of the Development Planning Division. This transfer had a significant impact on Lei Xiaoxi's career. The Provincial Development and Reform Commission is at the same level as the Provincial Department of Finance and the Provincial Department of Commerce, meaning he had begun working in a provincial department. Moreover, the Provincial Development and Reform Commission is one of the leading departments in the province, belonging to the macro-control department, responsible for comprehensively researching and formulating economic and social development policies.

After the ceremony, Hu Shutong approached Lei Xiaoxi. After exchanging a few pleasantries, Lei Xiaoxi led Hu Shutong on a leisurely walk in the desolate area outside the greenhouse.

"I'm sure President Hu, like many others, is wondering how much of this staggering four trillion yuan stimulus package will actually be implemented. To be honest, I'm not so sure myself, but some indicators are more reassuring than a specific number. Let's take the 97 Asian financial crisis as an example to see how this expansion of domestic demand differs."

Hu Shutong nodded without saying a word, while Lei Xiaoxi's interpretation of the policy was clearly beyond the reach of ordinary people.

"Back then, our country was afraid of a sudden economic slowdown, so we issued more than 500 billion yuan in long-term construction bonds to strengthen fixed asset investment and use it for various infrastructure projects. In those days, our country's infrastructure was very backward, and large-scale infrastructure construction had a significant boost to the national economy. More obviously, the real estate market went from a slump to rapid expansion. Why did the efforts to expand domestic demand at that time go to these areas? In retrospect, it's not complicated. Because our country didn't have much money at that time, we could only use steel where it could solve the most problems."

"The scale and impact of this global financial crisis are incomparable to those of 1997, but our country's strength is also far greater than it was back then. At that time, out of international responsibility, we pledged not to devalue the RMB. In 1998, we experienced a fiscal deficit, but in the first half of this year, the national fiscal surplus reached trillions of yuan. In a sense, this best reflects our country's progress. Therefore, will this round of efforts to expand domestic demand still involve solely investing in infrastructure?"

"Stimulate consumption."

"That's right. Fixed asset investment has maintained high growth in recent years. Simply expanding domestic demand in 97 would not only have a weakened impact on economic growth, but would also lead to a waste of resources. A careful study of this year's 'Ten Measures' will show that our country has the confidence. Although it is called a stimulus plan, we are not trying to maintain high-speed growth or short-term growth, but rather to maintain long-term economic vitality through industrial restructuring."

"The two-step approach to stimulating consumption is evident in the four consecutive interest rate cuts by the central bank since September. This is to encourage private funds to circulate and prevent them from depreciating in banks, thereby increasing consumption and investment. The second step is inevitably to strengthen the scale and circulation of consumer goods. Our country has never lacked manufacturing capacity; the current problem lies in the lack of distribution capacity!"

"So, Mr. Hu, the Ten Measures are already underway, and distribution companies like yours will inevitably be among the recipients of these measures. Previous documents mostly focused on developing and accelerating modern logistics, but I think it won't be long before we see a real revitalization of logistics."

"I hope so."

"It's not a wish, it's a necessity."

Hu Shutong had never seen Lei Xiaoxi so certain. "They talk about modern logistics all the time, but what exactly is modern logistics? Looking back, they mostly avoid the topic. In today's situation, express parcels that don't rely on timeliness are getting faster and faster, while fresh vegetables and fruits that do rely on timeliness are stagnating. This is the weakness of modern logistics."

Hu Shutong wholeheartedly agreed, noting that over the years, people have often felt that cold chain logistics is not part of the larger logistics system; it is not like a branch of logistics, but rather like a lone wolf trying to survive on its own.

"If there is dedicated funding support, the distribution sector will definitely extend to cold chain logistics. The key to revitalizing the logistics industry is not delivering products with a six-month shelf life to supermarkets, but getting products with a three-day shelf life into every household. How to achieve this is simply a matter of building factories, increasing warehouses, strengthening outreach, and improving accessibility. Sometimes, what is more important than how much you grow yourself is how much you can influence others and whether you can truly shoulder the responsibility of the food basket project."

"I understand, Director Lei."

"If you only look at Article 6 of the Ten Measures, it's not enough. Study Article 8 carefully, and you'll discover the irreplaceable function of cold chain logistics. Rural issues have been a key focus in recent years, with increased subsidies and farmers' incomes being addressed through a series of pro-farmer policies, both within and outside the Ten Measures. It's expected that subsidies will be fully implemented next year, with standardized vegetable production areas designated to connect neighboring vegetable farms. Each standardized area will receive a subsidy of 200,000 to 300,000 yuan, and technical support will be provided to farmers, with each person receiving a subsidy of 3,500 yuan."

"Furthermore, we will vigorously support agricultural product distribution enterprises. For enterprises that have a comprehensive upstream and downstream distribution network, we will award 200,000 yuan for every new thousand tons of cold storage."

A reward of 200,000 yuan for a thousand tons of warehouse space—this was a figure Hu Shutong could never have imagined!

Lei Xiaoxi is right. Cold chain logistics and agriculture are inherently related. The first mile of cold chain logistics is clearly the same path as farmers going out and modern agriculture going out.

In fact, many of Lei Xiaoxi's words corroborated Hu Shutong's predictions. In the past, people often talked about the spring of the cold chain and the opportunities of the times, but they often failed to grasp the true meaning. But at this moment, what was rising in Hu Shutong's heart had never been so real and tangible.

His mind was racing, and suddenly many of his plans could be accelerated!

……

I've loved cold chain logistics for twenty years.