February 18, 2009.
The holiday season had passed, and all the departments had resumed work.
Jiangzhou City, government offices.
Inside an office, a man in his fifties was handling his work.
Deputy Secretary Chen had just returned to work. As he looked at the document in his hands, he frowned slightly.
It was a report about a number of unlicensed, low-speed electric vehicles carrying passengers around the city.
Reports like this were common during the holidays and usually weren't worth much attention.
What made Deputy Secretary Chen frown was the vehicle mentioned repeatedly in the report: Jiuzhou Mini!
"What is this Jiuzhou Mini? It sounds vaguely familiar."
After thinking for a moment, Deputy Secretary Chen suddenly remembered.
"Jiuzhou Automobile? Isn't that the company in our city that went bankrupt twice? They've actually managed to make cars?!" Even he was surprised!
Deputy Secretary Chen and other local officials had once held high hopes for this local automaker.
If the automobile industry could take off, it would create many jobs and increase tax revenue.
But several years had passed, and both the factory and the government had tried many different approaches.
Unfortunately, this was more than a small place could handle. They had neither the technology nor the design expertise. Even if they managed to make a car, it would likely have little impact on the market.
As time passed, fewer and fewer people remembered local brands such as Night Pearl Automobile, Qinchuan Automobile, Tianma Automobile, Yunque Automobile, Tonggong Automobile, and Shenjian Automobile.
Even big cities like Chengdu had only a few obscure automobile manufacturers, or Joint Venture factories. Attempts to develop their own local automakers had gotten nowhere.
Deputy Secretary Chen had assumed that in another couple of years, the factory would sell off its manufacturing license, gradually disappear from the local scene, and liquidate its equipment, buildings, and land.
He remembered that two years earlier, the factory's owner had asked the government to help him find someone. In the blink of an eye, two years had passed, and the company suddenly seemed to be turning things around.
Deputy Secretary Chen suddenly found himself interested in the automaker.
"Secretary Wang!"
Hearing Deputy Secretary Chen call, a man over six feet tall knocked and entered the office. "Secretary."
"Do you have detailed information on Jiuzhou Automobile?"
The secretary looked surprised. "The company that made the Jiuzhou Mini?"
"That's right, the Jiuzhou Mini." Deputy Secretary Chen nodded.
The secretary replied respectfully, "If you hadn't asked, I was going to brief you on it this afternoon."
"Oh? Tell me more." Deputy Secretary Chen raised an eyebrow. It seemed this automaker had something going for it; it had already caught the government's attention!
After thinking for a moment, the secretary shared what he knew. "Around October last year, Jiuzhou Automobile sold the entire factory for fifty million yuan to a rich second-generation heir from the provincial capital.
"Not long after that, its first product rolled off the line: the Jiuzhou Mini, which is now on the market.
"Unlike the cars made by ordinary automakers, the Jiuzhou Mini is a low-speed electric vehicle.
"It doesn't meet the standards for registration, but neither the provincial capital nor other localities have imposed many restrictions on vehicles like it.
"This model has gradually brought the factory into the awareness of the city's residents, and its sales have continued to set new records."
Deputy Secretary Chen raised a hand, interrupting the secretary. "Sales are good? About how many have they sold?"
The secretary answered without haste, "From what I've learned, they've sold around three thousand so far. There are also many orders that haven't been delivered yet. Altogether, the number may be around five thousand."
"Oh? That many?" Deputy Secretary Chen exclaimed in surprise.
Five thousand might not seem like much, but for a small automaker, it was an impressive result.
Some of the car factories mentioned earlier had never made that many vehicles in their entire existence, let alone sold them.
The secretary continued, "It's selling well for a few reasons. The first is that you don't need a driver's license to drive it."
Deputy Secretary Chen frowned slightly. "Not needing a license could cause some problems. Are these cars common across the country?"
"I checked online. They're sold in the provincial capital, and there are quite a few in different parts of Shandong. Even Beijing has cars like this, and you can drive them without a license."
Deputy Secretary Chen breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. "Good, then that's not a problem. Go on."
"One advantage is that no license is required. The target customers are older people, as well as people who can't get a driver's license but still need a vehicle.
"Another advantage is that it doesn't need gasoline. You can recharge it with electricity, which makes it very suitable for rural areas. Almost every household has a yard, so charging the car is convenient.
"And the Jiuzhou Mini is well made. There's practically no competition on the market, which has led to the current situation where demand exceeds supply."
"Interesting. A rich second-generation heir managed to bring this little factory back to life and accomplish what the owners of several previous car factories couldn't.
"It sounds like a simple idea, but how many automakers have actually managed to pull it off?"
The secretary beside him sounded impressed, too. "Almost none. Automakers focus their efforts on traditional fuel-powered cars.
"And most manufacturers of low-speed electric vehicles are tiny workshops with only a few dozen people. Their products are also very poorly made."
Deputy Secretary Chen asked about another matter he cared about. "How many people are working at the factory now?"
Employment had always been one of the key indicators the local government used to measure how well it was doing its job.
The secretary replied, "They now have nearly six hundred workers. I've also heard that most employees work three shifts a day, eight hours per shift.
"The factory provides meals in the employee cafeteria. Workers can live on-site for free, or choose to live at home and receive a housing allowance. Most of the employees are local, and almost all of them choose to live at home.
"At the same time, the factory's average wages are about twenty percent higher than those at nearby factories, and it provides five types of social insurance and a housing fund.
"One of my relatives works there. He really admires the young factory manager and is very satisfied with the working conditions."
After listening carefully to the secretary's report, Deputy Secretary Chen could no longer hide his smile. "You can plant flowers with care, and they still won't bloom; a willow planted by chance can grow into a grove!
"Nearly six hundred employees! In just a few months, they've surpassed the factory's peak workforce from before. Impressive, very impressive!"
The secretary added, "Finally, according to the annual tax return submitted by Jiuzhou Automobile, they paid more than 2.3 million yuan in taxes over the few months they operated last year."
He paused, then continued, "The tax bureau hasn't finished checking it yet, but the amount is close to the estimate. I'd planned to wait until the tax review was complete and everything had been verified before reporting to you."
"More than two million in just a few months? They took over the factory in October last year, so it's only been a little over four months?"
"They've only been selling the product for about three months, and at first, production wasn't very high, so sales weren't that strong."
The secretary frowned slightly and added:
"Actually, even after an increase, production is only a little over sixty Jiuzhou Minis a day, or more than twenty thousand a year. They still don't have enough capacity!
"They still won't be able to meet demand anytime soon. And it's not just people in our city buying the cars; consumers from neighboring cities come here specifically to purchase them!"
Deputy Secretary Chen looked closely at the secretary and asked, enunciating every word in disbelief, "You mean that at the current rate of sales, they could pay more than ten million yuan in taxes a year?"
"Yes. Based on current Jiuzhou Mini sales, they could pay about 11 million yuan in taxes annually. If they can expand production, they'll pay even more.
"It's a huge untapped market. If they make the cars, they'll have no trouble selling them!"
Deputy Secretary Chen closed his eyes and sighed. "I understand. Make the arrangements. I'll visit the factory tomorrow!"
Nearly six hundred employees and annual tax payments in the tens of millions. For the local government of a small fifth-tier city, the factory was a cash cow, a real treasure!
And it seemed there was still room for further growth. They had to take good care of it!
Before you continue