As soon as they both started, everyone started to clamor:

"Yes, yes, the funding problem is easy to solve, mainly because there is not enough manpower."

"Actually, the funds are tight, but gritting your teeth and squeezing out money can also be squeezed out. The key is that you don't have enough technical strength and are afraid of delaying things."

"Mr. Feng, I think, can we consider shrinking the front line and just do one or two projects, and don't bloom on all sides..."

"I think the direction of coal-to-fuel can be temporarily suspended. Now that the oil price is so low, there is no need for coal-to-fuel!"

"Pta is too difficult. Should we push it back? It won't be chewed too much..."

Everyone glanced at Feng Xiaochen with one mouthful, trying to see if their opinions could work. Feng Xiaochen just smiled without saying a word, so that everyone could express their feelings to the fullest. After everyone spoke for a while, they felt bored, so their voices slowly lowered, and in the end no one spoke.

"Are you all finished?" Feng Xiaochen glanced at everyone and saw that everyone was silent, and said with a smile: "Everyone's opinions are very good! It makes sense. It is indeed a bit difficult for us to propose a million-ton PTA project and a million-ton coal-to-fuel project. Especially the technology of coal-to-fuel, which is still in the exploration stage abroad. We started later than others, but our goals are higher than others, which is indeed more difficult."

"Yes..." Zhou Rongquan wanted to echo. As soon as he said a word, Zhen Lin, who was sitting opposite him, gave him a wink. Zhou Rongquan felt a stern and quickly shut up.

Both the PTA project and the coal-to-fuel project were proposed by Feng Xiaochen. Now he said it himself is indeed difficult. Don’t think that he has listened to your opinion. This is just a speaking skill of suppressing first and then rising. Everyone present is an old official, and no one can hear the taste of it. In other words, Zhou Rongquan didn’t know if he was not awake or was hit by the door frame when he went out in the morning. He actually wanted to shout to Feng Xiaochen.

Sure enough, Feng Xiaochen changed his mind and began the "but" that everyone expected.

"But, leaders, time is endless." Feng Xiaochen said seriously, "Our country is in negotiations for accession to the WTO. Developed countries have put forward many requirements for us, including asking us to open the equipment market, adopt a non-discrimination policy in major equipment procurement, and prohibit various subsidies for domestic products. In the past, we used administrative protection measures, requiring users to choose domestic equipment and provide financial subsidies for equipment with a certain level of domestic production rate. This is why everyone has a good life of having no worries about food and clothing. When we join the WTO and begin to fulfill our commitment to accession to the WTO, can we still make money as easily as we are now?"

"No way, Mr. Feng?" Gu Weicheng said in surprise, "When the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economics came to us for investigation, we made it clear that the chemical equipment industry cannot be fully opened to the outside world. We started late and our technology was behind Western countries. If we were fully opened, we would be completely finished."

"Yes, our equipment industry is the country's basic industry. How can we let foreigners come in?"

"Didn't the central leaders say last month that they wanted to protect the equipment industry?"

"Yes, we should give some time!"

The others also started to shout together. This time, everyone's voice was a little louder than before, and the anxiety on their faces was more real. The equipment company asked all companies to promise the research and development tasks of key technologies, but everyone was still in a good mood. They shouted a few words just to bargain with the equipment company. As for opening the market, everyone really felt the threat. This sense of threat was not what they felt when they heard Feng Xiaochen's words today. A year or two ago, experts in the media were exaggerating, saying that once the country opened, Chinese industry would return to the pre-liberation overnight. The disease of Western phobia is considered a hereditary epidemic in China, and everyone present had more or less symptoms.

Feng Xiaochen waved his hand to calm everyone down, and then said: "I can understand everyone's mood. Regarding the protection of the equipment industry, our equipment company has also made demands to the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Affairs. The country has also done a lot of strength and sacrificed many interests in other fields to exchange for a longer protection period for us. However, everyone asks ourselves, we have so many large state-owned enterprises, full of talents and well-equipped equipment, so we really want to hide behind the country for the rest of our lives, let agriculture and mining industries sacrifice for us, and protect us?"

"this……"

Everyone was speechless. Feng Xiaochen's words were righteous and it was really difficult to jump out and refute. But if you want to accept his point of view, everyone thinks it is inappropriate. It is objective to exist because skills are inferior to people. The country has protected it for so many years. What's the harm in protecting it for a few more years?

"I think Mr. Feng's words make some sense." Yin Xianglin spoke timidly. He did not support Feng Xiaochen because he was afraid of being angry. He looked at everyone and said, "We used to always say that the big brother of the workers, among the workers, farmers, businessmen, and soldiers, our industry is also at the forefront. I heard that when foreign trade, they work hard to protect agriculture. If we always let the country sacrifice agriculture to protect our industry, especially heavy industry, it is indeed a bit unpleasant to say it."

"Oh, isn't our technology still not up to standard?" Zhou Rongquan said.

"In terms of technology, there is actually not such a big gap." Wu Shican was interrupting. Seeing everyone's eyes turned to him, he simply continued: "In recent years, our companies have a lot of technical reserves, and the results of the Petrochemical Design Institute and the Chemical Design Institute have also been quite good. If everyone works together, the key technologies I just mentioned are not impossible to break through. The main obstacles to the million-ton PTA project and the coal-to-fuel project are these key technologies. If we break through the key technologies, there will be no big problems with other small problems in technology based on our accumulation over the years, right?"

Leng Feiyun also spoke at the right time, saying: "Other point is that we have the advantage of cost. Under the same conditions, cost is also one of the important considerations. The Argentine fertilizer project we won last time was head-on competition with several old Japanese chemical companies, and did not rely on government policy protection. Since we can defeat the Japanese in the international market, we don't have to worry about them when we enter the domestic market."

"This is a bit reasonable," Zhen Lin said softly. "As for the current 15 million tons refinery project, I think it's just these technologies if it's changed to American companies or German companies. Perhaps the details are slightly better than us, but we can get rid of them in terms of labor costs. According to the WTO's procurement bidding standards, we may not necessarily fail."

Gu Weicheng looked at Feng Xiaochen and asked: "Mr. Feng, what does the equipment company mean? Do you want the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economics to prevent our industries from protecting them during negotiations?"

Feng Xiaochen said: "This is not true. However, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Affairs hopes that we can make some compromises. Some relatively mature areas can be considered opening to foreign countries, and some areas that are not yet mature, the protection period should be appropriately shortened. In this regard, if we only retain a five-year protection period for petrochemical equipment and fully open to foreign countries in five years, do you think it can be afforded?"

"Five years?"

Everyone thought silently in their hearts. From the bottom of their hearts, of course, everyone hoped that the longer the protection period, the better, and how happy it would be without competition. But when Feng Xiaochen talked about this level, everyone knew that the equipment company had been under pressure. To be precise, this is a pressure from abroad on China. If China insisted on not opening these markets, then the negotiations to join the WTO may be affected, or the country would have to make sacrifices in more important aspects.

Of course, everyone can also follow the idea of ​​a fellow Taoist who dies and will not die, forcing the country to extend the protection period for the industry, and use sacrifices in agriculture, mining, service and other fields to exchange for a protective umbrella for them. But in doing so, they feel that they can’t bear the face. As Feng Xiaochen said, everyone is full of talents and well-equipped state-owned enterprises, so this is still a small amount of face. On the other hand, whether they can share the worries of the country at critical moments is also an important condition for examining a cadre. These people are leaders of state-owned enterprises and have the idea of ​​going further. If they don’t come out to bear the pressure at this time, what will the superior leaders think of them?

"If it's only five years, we'll really have to hurry up." Zhen Lin broke the silence first.

"Yes, it's so nervous in five years!" Zhou Rongquan also echoed.

What they said was to accept the conditions proposed by Feng Xiaochen in disguise. The so-called "tension" means that it can still be done, but it only requires some effort. When other leaders heard their statements, they nodded slowly and agreed. At this time, they had already figured it out that there was a five-year protection period. If everyone was a little more, invested more people and money, and let the company's technical level reach a new level, there was still hope. Even if the country's door was opened and Western peers came in to compete, they would not be able to fight.

"Okay!" Feng Xiaochen smiled on his face, and he said, "It would be great that everyone has such a determination. The WTOEIC negotiation team of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation will ask everyone for their opinions in a few days, hoping that everyone can give them a confident answer. As for ourselves, as Director Zhen said, we must hurry up. The key technologies that Minister Wu just mentioned must be developed within five years. Even if they cannot reach the same level abroad, they should at least be useful. As for the talent issue, it is actually very simple. As long as they can solve the treatment problem, are you still worried about not having talents?"
Chapter completed!