"36 Billion" Hits Us

Three days later, the heads of two logistics companies, Chiyun Logistics and Wantong Express, arrived in Zhenxing District as scheduled for on-site inspection.

Upon hearing that Yunong Group intended to promote the establishment of an agricultural materials trade and logistics city, the two companies also saw the supporting business opportunities and quickly reached an investment agreement to jointly build an express logistics industrial park.

The project is expected to have a total investment of 600 million yuan. The park will include express parcel sorting, warehousing, trunk line distribution and other businesses, and will gradually be built into a logistics transit hub radiating to surrounding cities.

With the two projects, each worth over 100 million yuan, being proposed one after another, discussions in the district have become even more lively.

"Another 600 million project, the two together are close to 3 billion."

"How much investment did we attract last year?"

"Secretary Lin really knows his stuff."

"He had already launched many projects in Fengshan and Fuchuan, which quickly boosted the economy."

"I don't care about projects or anything like that. I just hope the renovation of the old city's shantytowns will start soon."

"I heard that the province has a policy of monetary compensation for shantytown renovation. If it can be implemented, my old house will be worth something. I can sell it and buy a house in the new city. Maybe I can even save some money."

"I heard that this project was spearheaded by District Chief Yang, and it seems to be worth more than a billion yuan."

For a time, Zhenxing District became the focus of the entire city.

The two major projects are being pushed forward by their respective district leaders, and there's a strong sense of undercurrents of competition between them.

Moreover, Bi Fupeng, a member of the Standing Committee of the Municipal Party Committee and Vice Mayor, made a special phone call to Lin Xiao to inquire in detail about the two projects.

Bi Fupeng was surprised by the series of large-scale investment intentions in Zhenxing District, and even felt that it was somewhat unreal.

In fact, he didn't really suspect Lin Xiao of fabricating the story, but he had some concerns.

After all, for a project worth billions, a mere letter of intent is just the beginning; there are still many hurdles to overcome, and there is a certain degree of uncertainty.

But now that the news has spread and generated considerable buzz, if the project ultimately falls through, it will inevitably attract discussion from all sides.

At that time, not only will Zhenxing District itself look bad, but the city's reputation for attracting investment will also be affected. As the vice mayor in charge, he will bear the brunt of the criticism for ineffective supervision and lax control.

Besides, with personnel adjustments underway in the city, he didn't want to leave a bad reputation at this critical juncture.

"Mayor Bi, these two projects should be officially approved soon, and the district has also done the relevant supporting work. Next, we need the city's strong support, and we hope the city can help us apply for the list of key investment projects in the province. Once selected, we will receive supporting subsidies."

Lin Xiao's words gave Bi Fupeng a boost of confidence.

He knew in his heart that Lin Xiao never spoke carelessly.

Some time ago, he had some friction with Lin Xiao because of environmental protection and Zhou Huayu's case, but it didn't escalate to the point of a complete falling out.

A few days ago, when he went to report to Mayor Ma Guanghua, Ma Guanghua specifically instructed him to provide more support for the work of Zhenxing District. He immediately sensed that Ma Guanghua's attitude towards Lin Xiao had changed.

Currently, the two major projects spearheaded by Lin Xiao are about to be launched. If they can be included in the list of key provincial projects, it would undoubtedly be the icing on the cake. Naturally, he, as the vice mayor in charge of investment promotion, would also deserve credit, which would certainly be a boost at a time when the city is facing personnel adjustments.

Therefore, he was naturally willing to contribute.

He smiled and said, "Very good. Then you should expedite the preliminary procedures. As for applying for key projects, I'll accompany you to the provincial capital, and we'll try our best to get it approved. I'll also report to Mayor Ma on the city side and try to get some support."

Lin Xiao smiled and said, "Thank you, Mayor Bi. I'll take care of it as soon as I get there. Also, Yu Nong Group has proposed to improve the transportation infrastructure in the area. I'm having the Transportation Bureau help calculate how much funding is needed to achieve the desired effect. I hope Mayor Bi will support us then."

Bi Fupeng immediately responded, "No problem. If you can secure an investment of several billion yuan, it's only right that the city allocates some matching funds to improve transportation conditions. I will definitely support it."

He would naturally support these two major projects as long as they could be implemented as soon as possible, since they would be a good achievement for him.

Besides, if every district and county could be like Lin Xiao, his work pressure would be greatly reduced.

A week later, the deputy general manager of Wantong Express led a team to Zhenxing District to finalize the cooperation details and officially signed an investment agreement for the express logistics industrial park, with a total investment of 600 million yuan.

This investment will be fully funded by Wantong Express, and the amount is higher than the initial estimate in the preliminary negotiations.

The other logistics company that had previously partnered with them abandoned its plan to expand throughout the state due to internal strategic adjustments within the group.

At the signing ceremony, Bi Fupeng, member of the Standing Committee of the Municipal Party Committee and Vice Mayor, was invited to attend, and the Municipal Television Station and related media were present to report on the event.

According to the agreement, the Wantong Express Logistics Park will be constructed in three phases. The first phase involves an investment of 300 million yuan, which has been received on schedule as agreed. The remaining two phases will be completed within the year.

Once completed, the logistics park will become the second largest regional transit hub for Wantong Express in Quanzhou and Ningxia provinces, undertaking the sorting, transfer and delivery of express parcels to many surrounding areas.

Not long after the ceremony, Lin Xiao convened a special work meeting, drawing key personnel from multiple departments to form a special service team for key investment projects. This team would be responsible for all approval procedures, minimizing time and pushing the projects to be implemented as soon as possible.

Two days later, Tang Guihong, chairman of Yunong Group, personally led a team to Zhenxing District for inspection.

This inspection was of a very high standard. Tang Guihong not only brought a complete project plan, but also the heads of several important departments of the group accompanied him on the inspection.

In addition, the vice presidents of three agricultural input companies also came along. They will work with Yunong Group to jointly develop the commercial city.

Party Secretary Wang Yuanze personally met with Tang Guihong and his delegation, and the two sides had in-depth exchanges on agricultural materials trade and logistics projects.

The following day, Liu Zhiyang, deputy general manager of Yunong Group, representing the investors, signed an investment agreement with the three partner companies and Zhenxing District.

The entire commercial city project has a total investment of 3 billion yuan, with Yunong Group contributing 2.1 billion yuan and three other companies each contributing 300 million yuan, creating an agricultural materials distribution center covering the junction of Quanzhou, Ningxia, Wushan, and Changze provinces.

Party Secretary Wang Yuanze, Mayor Ma Guanghua, and Vice Mayor Bi Fupeng attended the signing ceremony together.

This time, not only did the media throughout the city give it prominent coverage, but Fengdu Daily and Fengdu TV also broadcast it, and the provincial agricultural media "Agricultural and Commercial Daily" also published a special report.

In a short period of time, two major projects were launched in Zhenxing District, with a total investment of 3.6 billion yuan, and the district's annual investment promotion target was completed in one fell swoop.

The rapid pace of progress and the sheer scale of investment have shocked the entire city.

Businessmen saw a huge potential opportunity, while ordinary people looked forward to a more prosperous future. After all, such a large investment would surely drive rapid economic development.

In addition, many people had previously discussed in private that Lin Xiao was just creating hype and making empty promises, but now these doubts have completely disappeared as the project has been implemented.

However, at this moment, District Chief Yang Songfeng was very depressed.

While Lin Xiao continued to produce impressive results, his own proposed monetary compensation project for the renovation of old city shantytowns remained stuck at the provincial level, with no progress in sight.

A few days ago, the project plan was reviewed and approved by the mayor's office meeting and submitted, but after the relevant materials were submitted to the provincial housing and construction department, there was no follow-up.

He also made a special trip to the provincial capital with Executive Vice Mayor Cai Zili, but only received the reply of "waiting for news". They said that there were too many projects applying for urban renewal in the province, the quota was tight, and they could only wait in line. They also implied that the urban area could raise funds on its own to start first.

To put it bluntly, it's telling them not to have too high expectations.

This made Yang Songfeng very depressed.

Now, while good news keeps coming from Lin Xiao, the projects he is in charge of have stalled, which has led many people to privately begin to doubt his abilities.

Yang Songfeng was very anxious. Even though Wang Yuanze had been transferred and a new secretary had taken office, if he couldn't produce outstanding results, he still wouldn't stand a chance in his struggle against Lin Xiao.

At the same time, many rumors have circulated about Wang Yuanze.

Some say Wang Yuanze is about to be transferred to the province as vice governor, in charge of agricultural-related fields; others say that Provincial Party Secretary Xu Zecheng has spoken with Wang Yuanze twice to solicit his opinions on the subsequent adjustments to the leadership teams of the city and prefecture.

The rumors were so detailed and detailed that it seemed as if the people making the claims had actually seen the appointment and dismissal documents or witnessed them firsthand.

Of course, people were only talking about it privately.

According to the rules of the system, personnel changes are subject to change before the official appointment and dismissal documents are issued. Public discussion is not only a violation of the rules, but can also easily cause trouble.

However, recently, Executive Vice Mayor Cai Zili has stopped causing trouble for Lin Xiao.

As a seasoned veteran of officialdom, one should be able to see the current situation clearly—Wang Yuanze has not yet officially resigned, and Ma Guanghua has begun to openly support Lin Xiao. Continuing to cause trouble at this point will only bring trouble upon oneself.

Therefore, it is better to wait and see for the time being, and then act when the opportunity arises.