Returning wealthy individuals develop their hometowns and become rich in the 1980s

Accompanied by Zhong Dequan, Chen Dong and Chen Zaisheng sat in the small room for about twenty minutes before being invited back to the main conference room.

Those who had been enthusiastically discussing things in the conference room now sat up straight, waiting for the Chen brothers to be seated. Wang Huaimin immediately spoke up, "Comrade Chen, after our discussion just now, we have made the following amendments to the point you just raised."

"Speaking!"

"First, 30% of the payment will be deposited into a secret account via a transfer-based accounting method. We will not restrict any of your legitimate foreign exchange transactions! However, this will only take effect if it is linked to the second clause regarding the annualized interest rate!"

"Secondly, the remaining 70% will be repaid in installments using raw materials, munitions, or textiles, with an annualized interest rate of 8%. The prices of raw materials and other items will be reassessed every two quarters!"

After Wang Huaimin finished speaking his second point, Chen Dong had to interrupt him, "Excuse me for interrupting you, Director Wang, were you just talking about weapons?"

Wang Huaimin responded with a smile, "Yes, Comrade Chen, arms are indeed an important export product for us, and I believe that absorbing these arms shipments will not be a problem for you at all!"

"I am a legitimate businessman, Director Wang!"

Wang Huaimin shrugged, signaling Chen Dong to continue, "I know you're a legitimate businessman, but you managed to transport all these machine tools and equipment under the COCOM embargo. Surely you can handle this little bit of weaponry too!"

"So, Comrade Chen, you mean you're not involved in the arms business?"

Chen Dong sighed. The arms business was lucrative, but it was also very dangerous. If all the weapons he had acquired were absorbed by the system and no conflict occurred in the other Third Worlds, China would start to wonder where all of Chen Dong's weapons had gone.

"Weapons can be used as compensation, but it can't exceed 30%. If too many weapons appear on the market, it will threaten other people's profits, and I will be in a very passive position," Chen Dong thought. He decided to simply put all these weapons into the system space and distribute a batch to Zhigongtang later.

"So, Comrade Chen, you have connections, right?"

"We'll talk about that later. Let's discuss the payment for the goods first," Wang Huaimin's sudden inquiry forced Chen Dong to steer the conversation back to the arms deal.

"Alright," Wang Huaimin said, seeing that Chen Dong didn't want to discuss the arms deal, so he got back to the main point, "As for the third and fourth conditions, we agree in principle, but Comrade Chen, the projects you invest in and operate must first be submitted to the relevant departments for review and approval before they can proceed!"

"Regarding the duty-free warehouses at the ports, we only agree to retain one in Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Furthermore, all products invested in and operated by you, Comrade Chen, can enjoy partial expedited inspection exemptions at Chinese ports!"

"Comrade Chen, do you think these conditions are acceptable?"

"The review and application process will affect my investment and cause me to miss many opportunities, which I do not agree with," Chen Dong responded point by point. "As for only retaining the duty-free warehouses in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, Director Wang, to be honest, I have already invested such a large amount of money in Nanshan County, Tuocheng. My focus is now basically on Tuocheng. I am currently unable to be in two places at once."

The decision to retain only the duty-free warehouses at the Shenzhen port was, frankly, a deliberate bait set by Wang Huaimin to lure Chen Dong to invest in Shenzhen. Chen Dong could easily see through Zhou Bingguo and Wang Huaimin's schemes.

But Chen Dong has already invested nearly 100 million US dollars in Tuocheng, the roads have been built, and the power plant has been completed. Now it's time to roll up his sleeves and get things done. How could he possibly go back to Shenzhen to invest and start over?

In the early stages of reform and opening up, it can be said that wherever Chen Dong invests, that place will become the economic leader of Guangdong Province in the future. Although there are ties such as local clans in Tuocheng, Tuocheng is Chen Dong's hometown, and his relatives live here. If Tuocheng is developed well, Chen Dong's voice in Tuocheng will be stronger.

At this stage where the four special economic zones are starting up simultaneously, as long as Chen Dong truly wants to develop in Tuocheng, it is not necessarily true that Tuocheng will be inferior to Shenzhen in the future. As long as Tuocheng develops, it will be able to better drive Fuzhou and Fengcheng in the future. It is even possible that the three cities will reunite and become the largest super first-tier city in China.

This was the first time Zhou Bingguo and Wang Huaimin had received a clear positive response from Chen Dong regarding investing in Shenzhen. Zhou Bingguo spoke up, "Comrade Chen, regarding the review process, it must be reserved. While the central government offers favorable conditions for foreign investment in China, the only condition is that it must be a joint venture with a local Chinese company to prevent local businesses from being impacted by foreign capital!"

"I'm not afraid to be blunt, Comrade Chen, and I know that many of the projects you invest in and establish in the future may impact many existing private and even state-owned enterprises in China, which is related to the survival of their employees!"

"We've compromised and agreed that Comrade Chen can invest without joint ventures with other Chinese companies. This is already our biggest concession. The review process must be retained; this is our bottom line!"

"As for your lack of interest in investing in Shenzhen, Comrade Chen, we can agree to relocate the port's duty-free warehouse to Tuogang. We hope you understand that these concessions represent our utmost sincerity!"

Zhou Bingguo's words were sincere and heartfelt, and Chen Dong felt the genuine sincerity of the Chinese government. It can be said that during the reform and opening up period, foreign-funded enterprises that wanted to enter China could not operate as wholly foreign-owned enterprises.

The Chinese government has made painstaking plans for its domestic enterprises. You can say this is bad and that is bad, but without the protection of the Chinese government's various policies, domestic enterprises would be completely exposed to the impact of foreign capital. In that case, 99% of the enterprises would disappear in the first two years after the reform and opening up when foreign capital entered China.

Without the constraints of domestically produced goods, the Chinese market would be left to foreign companies to do as they please, and China would become a "colony" of foreign companies!

Would you like to eat bread worth five million marks?

Look at the countries that didn't restrict foreign investment, and you'll understand how far-sighted and unswayed the Chinese government leadership was during the reform and opening-up period.

It's better to have your own than to have what your parents have!

Foreign companies are ultimately predatory. Look at what a certain internationally renowned carbonated beverage company did in Mexico. They tightly controlled Mexico's water resources. The greedy nature of capitalists is fully revealed in an unrestrained country.

"Minister Zhou, Director Wang, I can accept the conditions you have proposed!"