Sharpening the Blade Against the Red Wall: From Hong Kong to Handong

The morning after being elected mayor, Zhou Jin convened all members of the resource matching working group in the municipal government conference room for a preparatory meeting to receive the Hong Kong delegation. The table was covered with thick documents, ranging from the list of delegation members and the main businesses of the companies, to the resource promotion brochures of various districts and counties in Yancheng, and the agenda and tour route for the meeting.

"The Hong Kong delegation will arrive early next month, consisting of 27 companies covering four sectors: cultural tourism, food processing, new energy, and financial investment. All of them are high-quality companies selected by the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce." Zhou Jin tapped the list lightly with her finger, her tone serious. "This is the first large-scale investment promotion and matchmaking event after the launch of Yancheng City's 'Eleventh Five-Year Plan,' and it's also a grand event involving the entire province. The Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government are watching closely, and we absolutely cannot afford to make any mistakes."

He looked up at everyone and continued to deploy the work: "First, the reception team should make good arrangements for food, accommodation and itinerary. Most of the members of the inspection team are from the south and are not used to the coarse grains in northern Shaanxi. The restaurant should cater to both northern and southern tastes. At the same time, the tour routes of the revolutionary sites should be arranged. The guides must be trained in advance so that they can tell the revolutionary stories vividly and thoroughly, so that the Hong Kong entrepreneurs can feel the red heritage of Yancheng."

"Secondly, the promotion team needs to quickly improve the materials. The quality data of 'Yanshi Apples,' the development potential of red tourism, and the site selection report for new energy projects must be accurate and detailed. We also need to produce bilingual brochures for the convenience of Hong Kong entrepreneurs. In addition, we need to notify Luochuan County to select several chairpersons of apple cooperatives and Huangling County to arrange several heads of red tourism. On the day of the matchmaking meeting, we need to have them speak on stage and express their most genuine needs in the simplest terms."

"Third, the coordination team must immediately liaise with the provincial authorities to confirm the list of participants and exhibit information from other cities. The venue should be divided into a special area for Yancheng City and a comprehensive exhibition area for the entire province, highlighting both the unique characteristics of Yancheng City and showcasing the overall strength of Shaanxi Province. At the same time, the team should contact the Municipal Public Security Bureau and the Traffic Police Detachment to ensure security and traffic management along the delegation's itinerary, ensuring everything goes smoothly."

"And most importantly," Zhou Jin emphasized, "all coordination work must adhere to market principles. We must never force any partnerships and must respect the investment intentions of enterprises. What we need to do is clearly explain Yancheng's advantages, make the policies clear, and provide excellent services so that Hong Kong entrepreneurs can see Yancheng's development potential and are willing to invest and start businesses here."

The meeting lasted two hours. Zhou Jin inquired about and repeatedly reminded everyone about everything from the details of the matchmaking process to contingency plans for unexpected situations. After the meeting, he kept Lin Feng, the head of the working group, behind, and the two finalized the inspection team's itinerary using a map: "The first day, we'll hold the matchmaking meeting in the morning, visit Zaoyuan and the Yangjialing Revolutionary Site in the afternoon, and arrange a Shaanxi folk song evening to let them experience the local customs and culture of northern Shaanxi; the second day, we'll visit the Luochuan Apple Demonstration Park and the Wuqi Energy Industrial Park to conduct on-site inspections of the investment environment; the third day, we'll organize one-on-one negotiations between enterprises and districts/counties to strive for signing a number of cooperation intentions."

Lin Feng nodded as he took notes: "Mayor Zhou, don't worry, I'll take care of it right away and make sure the reception is done flawlessly."

After seeing Lin Feng off, Zhou Jin picked up the list of companies from the Hong Kong delegation and began studying them one by one. Cultural and tourism companies were well-suited for developing red-themed cultural and creative products; food processing companies could collaborate on apple deep-processing projects; new energy companies could contribute to photovoltaic power station construction; and investment institutions could inject fresh capital into the industrial transformation special fund… Each company's strengths perfectly matched Yancheng's development needs. The more Zhou Jin looked, the more excited she became, as if she could already see the rapid changes Yancheng would undergo after the cooperation was implemented.

After finishing the preparations for the inspection team, it was already afternoon. Zhou Jin rubbed his aching shoulders, got up and walked out of the office, strolling slowly along the street. The afternoon sun cast a long shadow of his, stretching all the way towards Pagoda Hill. The winter wind, carrying the scent of yellow earth, blew against his face, but it only made his mind clearer.

At this moment, Zhou Jin felt no sense of triumph, but rather a heavy sense of responsibility weighing on his heart. Being elected mayor was not a stepping stone to a political career, but a promise—a promise to the people of the old revolutionary base area, a promise to the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" blueprint. He had to immerse himself in the local community, without any impetuosity or empty gestures, to ensure that the people of Yan'an City truly lived a good life, and to revitalize this red land.

Zhou Jin's thoughts involuntarily drifted to cooperating with Secretary Li Xiangming. Secretary Li was a veteran leader deeply rooted in the local community, with extensive experience and high prestige, and was poised to rise to a high-ranking position in the central government. As a newcomer with shallow roots and no connections in Yan City, his primary principle was absolute respect and full cooperation. Especially regarding personnel matters, Zhou Jin secretly reminded himself to control his words and actions, refraining from expressing personal opinions and prioritizing Secretary Li's suggestions. Firstly, he was new to Yan City and knew nothing about the local cadres, having no suitable candidates to recommend; secondly, forming cliques was a major taboo in officialdom, and he absolutely could not cross that line. He had to adhere to managing people through systems and selecting personnel according to regulations, promoting the capable and demoting the incompetent, thus building a cohesive team.

Thinking of this, Zhou Jin couldn't help but smile bitterly. His identity was far too complicated—a third-generation Red from Beijing, trained in the General Office of the Central Committee, worked in Hong Kong for eight years, and now parachuted into Yancheng in the Northwest. Strictly speaking, he should belong to the Beijing circle, but now that he was in the Northwest, working on Northwest affairs, others would inevitably label him as part of the "Northwest faction." This invisible division made him feel even more like he was walking on thin ice.

The cadre circles in Northwest China are mostly comprised of exchanges between the three northwestern provinces, and xenophobia is inherently stronger there than in other places. As an "outsider," he had no connections or roots; his only asset was his solid political achievements. Therefore, he had to be more low-key and pragmatic than others, doing more and talking less, letting his results speak for themselves.

Unbeknownst to him, Zhou Jin had already reached the banks of the Yan River. The Yan River flowed slowly in winter, and the willows along its banks, though bare, exuded a resilient strength. He stopped, gazing at the distant Pagoda Hill, and silently vowed: From this day forward, I am no longer Director Zhou of Hong Kong, but Zhou Jin of Yan City. Only by being grounded and practical can I live up to the trust placed in me and the expectations of the people of this land.

A breeze blew by, carrying the faint scent of apple orchards from afar. Zhou Jin clenched his fist and turned to walk towards the municipal party committee office building. He knew that the Hong Kong inspection team was drawing ever closer, and the implementation of the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" was urgent. There was no time for him to dwell on his thoughts; only hard work was the way forward.