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

"Mr. Chen, President Mi, this is the greatest sincerity I can offer within my authority."

Chen Dong didn't rush to reply. Instead, he crossed his arms and leaned back on the sofa. Chen Dong knew very well how many concessions and hidden tricks were concealed in Li Guangdong's plan.

By locking up the debt and stopping interest accrual, and then binding it with a profit-sharing arrangement for bilateral settlement, it appears to be acknowledging the debt, but in reality, it drags out the repayment into an endless, unending process.

A 30% return on profits sounds like a sincere offer, but the exact amount of that 30% depends on whether Po County is willing to delegate the bulk of its trade settlements to Tuocheng.

The debt has been acknowledged, but the money and the initiative are still in the other party's hands.

After clearing his mind, Chen Dong opened his hands, returning to his previous posture, and looked at Li Guangdong, saying, "Minister Li, you just said that you would lock up my grandfather's principal and interest of 144.84 million as of today, and stop accruing interest. I can accept that. I can even contact the Hongmen General Hall and other creditors to agree to suspend interest accrual from the date of repayment in Singapore."

Li Guangdong's face lit up with joy upon hearing this, but Chen Dong didn't let him be happy for long before continuing, "But I don't agree to your subsequent repayment method!"

Li Guangdong was taken aback and asked, puzzled, "Mr. Chen, why?"

Chen Dong grinned and said, "Minister Li, regarding your so-called 30% cut of the profits from bilateral settlements, let me ask you, why would Tuocheng want to do bilateral settlements with your Singaporean county? Tuocheng is currently on the rise, while your Singaporean county is on the decline. Cooperating with your Singaporean county is completely a losing proposition!"

"Even if we really do cooperate, whether it can be done, how large the scale can be, and how deep the cooperation can be, it's all up to China, not Singapore. Minister Li, you need to understand your own position on this point. Singapore's current trade settlement volume, even if it's only 30% of what it used to be, probably wouldn't be enough for me to pay my legal team's salaries, hahaha!"

Chen Zaisheng closed his notebook and added unhurriedly, "Minister Li, if Singapore didn't have these debts, given Singapore's current dollar settlement volume, your liquidation cooperation plan would have to be discounted. Furthermore, if you agree to use creditors' money to repay creditors, people in the international financial community would probably laugh their heads off."

Li Guangdong's expression changed several times, and the forced smile on his lips was about to burst. Of course, he knew that his plan was untenable, but this was the limit of what he could offer.

No, strictly speaking, this is the maximum that Singapore can offer at present, because before coming here, Li Guangliang repeatedly told me on the phone that we must establish a trade settlement and exchange agreement with Tuocheng.

Li Guangdong was determined to "acknowledge the debt, not default on it, and repay the loan based on cooperation." He thought that by acknowledging the debt, setting a debt lock-in, and refusing to accrue interest, he could use the proceeds from bilateral settlement to repay the debt, at least he could keep Chen Dong in check, and then he could negotiate unilaterally with China. However, he did not expect that Chen Dong would not back down even an inch.

"Mr. Chen," Li Guangdong asked in a low voice, "how do you intend to repay this debt?"

"Zai Dong, Zai Sheng, I have a suggestion. Please listen and see if it's feasible," Mi Lian spoke up before Chen Dong could answer. Chen Dong nodded and said to Mi Lian, "President Mi, please speak."

Mi Lian nodded and looked at Li Guangxiong, saying, "Minister Li, since this debt is a historical one that has been dragging on for a long time, in order to better resolve the dispute between the creditors and creditors, it is not enough for the Singapore County Government and the creditors to just keep arguing back and forth. My suggestion is that we can introduce a third-party supervision mechanism that is acceptable to both parties."

Li Guangdong seemed to have already guessed what Mi Lian was about to say, and he tentatively asked, "President Mi, do you mean...?"

Mi Lian smiled and nodded, "Yes, Minister Li, you guessed right. I suggest that the Tuocheng Offshore Financial Centre and the Singapore Financial Services Authority jointly open a debt repayment supervision account. The source and proportion of all funds flowing into this account shall be jointly determined by both parties, filed with and supervised by the People's Bank of China. Singapore cannot unilaterally decide whether it is '30%' or '50%'."

Upon hearing this, Li Guangdong frowned repeatedly, wanting to say that this involved Singapore's financial sovereignty, but he swallowed his words. If Tuocheng only made a commercial agreement with Singapore, then Singapore would still have room to maneuver. Once the People's Bank of China intervened in the form of "filing," it would not only be a matter between two cities, but also an institutional extension of the Chinese financial system in Southeast Asia.

"Furthermore," Mi Lian added, seemingly worried that Li Guangxiong might not understand, "the repayment of this historical debt can be linked to the exchange arrangement between the Singapore dollar and the Chinese yuan. If Singapore wants to stabilize the Singapore dollar exchange rate, we can discuss a bilateral currency swap quota, using the stable credit of the Chinese yuan to support the Singapore dollar."

"But the prerequisite is that the debt repayment plan must take effect simultaneously with the swap agreement."

When Chen Dong heard the words "currency swap," his eyes narrowed slightly. He knew exactly what it meant: the People's Bank of China was looking for a suitable way to push the Chinese yuan to Southeast Asia.

Singapore's foreign exchange reserves are currently running low. If the exchange of Chinese Yuan can be used as bait to get Singapore on board with the internationalization of the Chinese Yuan, then the Chinese Yuan will have an additional foothold in the financial landscape of the Strait of Malacca in the future.

Chen Dong didn't need to look at Mi Lian's expression to know what the central bank governor was planning. Sure enough, any cadre who could stand out from over a billion people and be sent by the Central Committee of China to Tuocheng to take charge was no pushover.

Li Guangdong's mind was in a mess. He had come to Tuocheng to find a way out for Po County, but now, as they talked, the topic had shifted from debt repayment to currency swaps, and from clearing cooperation to third-party supervision.

Every proposal put forward by Milne, the head of the Central People's Bank, was far beyond Li Guangdong's authority, and he dared not agree to them.

"President Mi, Mr. Chen," Li Guangdong said slowly after a long silence, "Today's framework has exceeded my authority. I need to return to Singapore to report to the Cabinet in person."

"We can only reply after authorization from the Cabinet. But please rest assured that the Singapore County Government acknowledges these historical debts. As for how to repay them, please give the Singapore County Government some more time so that we can discuss it and come up with a specific solution."

"I can give you time," Chen Dong's tone finally softened considerably, "but Minister Li, you need to know that the time I'm giving you isn't free."

Chen Dong then warned, "During this period, Singapore must not take any further restrictive or negative measures against the Singapore Offshore Trading Center and its affiliated institutions, including those 'negative assessments' that your Singapore media have been promoting. I do not want to see them again."

Li Guangdong nodded. "I understand."

Chen Dong stood up, and Li Guangdong and Mi Lian followed suit. Chen Dong straightened his shirt cuffs and extended his hand to Li Guangdong. Li Guangdong hesitated for a moment, then extended his hand as well. "Minister Li, I hope you can bring me good news when we meet again!"