A great director who grew up happily

Chapter 496 Attracting Investment

It was already very late when Chen Jinnian took his sister out, so when Ji Shengli arrived, he insisted on treating him to lunch.

Chen Jinnian couldn't persuade the other party and had to agree.

When it was time to order, Liu Jing arranged Chen Xuanyue to sit next to her and asked kindly, "Tell Auntie what you like to eat. I'll order more for you."

Chen Xuanyue raised her little head, staring at the colorful pictures on the menu, as if she was thinking seriously.

Chen Jinnian laughed twice. He knew his sister wasn't picky about food, but wanted everything she saw, so he reminded her, "No need to order special dishes for her. Look at those two rows of teeth in her mouth. There's nothing she can't eat. She was having a blast chewing on the braised pig's trotter last night."

"It's just not spicy. My family doesn't like spicy food, so I've never given it to her."

After hearing his words, Ji Shengli quickly turned around and gave him instructions.

"Yes, yes, waiter, our children can't eat spicy food. Please tell the comrades in the kitchen not to put chili in our dishes."

"But some dishes cannot be cooked without chili peppers," the waiter replied awkwardly.

"It's okay, we can just change the dishes. Thank you for coming over and telling me which ones you ordered just now are spicy." Liu Jing's mother put on her reading glasses and called the waiter over to study the taste of the dishes.

Chen Jinnian felt a little guilty that his casual mention had caused several people to take it so seriously.

Then he said to Ji Shengli, "Don't bother. My sister can't eat much. Two non-spicy dishes will be enough."

"It's okay. My family prefers light dishes, so we just ordered some to share." Ji Shengli waved his hand, not really caring. He then began to talk about work. "Jinnian, you were very busy last year. I heard from Yang Yang that your two movies grossed over a billion. That's really amazing."

It was hard for Ji Shengli to imagine that in just two years, his son's classmate had become a big boss with a net worth of over ten billion.

"The box office revenue only looks high. After deducting taxes and sharing the profits with the cinema chains, I only get one-third at most. That's all. I still have to share it with other investors, so the company actually gets only 300 to 400 million yuan."

It is precisely because there are so many stakeholders to support in the film industry that those who make little money from filming and lose a lot of money, and those who are powerful like to control theaters and distribution channels, as this is a business that is sure to make money.

Chen Jinnian wanted to enter the gaming industry because the film industry was too demanding. Although the platform fees and production engine fees charged by the gaming industry were quite high, compared with the film industry, it was already a conscientious industry.

"Three or four hundred million is an astronomical figure," Ji Shengli sighed.

"Uncle, you're joking. You're the mayor now. The money you handled must be tens of billions."

"Those are part of the city's budget, the city's expenses, and have nothing to do with me. Besides, since I chose the path of a civil servant, I never thought about getting rich."

Ji Shengli hurriedly distanced himself from the matter. He might have been lacking in personal ability, but he was definitely clear-headed and knew that those things were not to be touched.

"It's just that every mayor is different. Our Zhonghai City is just a small, third-tier city, and its economy has never developed. We invested heavily in building a lot of high-tech industrial parks, but they're all empty. I'm very anxious now."

The flood of funds in the past few years led to large-scale construction, and a large number of unused high-tech parks were built all over the country, and Zhonghai City was no exception.

Large-scale construction means a large amount of capital movement.

After the former mayor of Zhonghai was dismissed for corruption and bribery, Ji Shengli was urgently transferred there as the fire captain to take over the mess.

Ji Shengli was suddenly parachuted in and faced many constraints within the department. It took him more than half a year to basically get it done, and the development problems he faces now are even more difficult.

The land has been almost sold by the predecessor, and the local manufacturing industry has been forced to close down or move to the west due to industrial transformation and adjustment. If Ji Shengli cannot come up with a solution, Zhonghai City will have a fiscal deficit next year and start to live on debt.

"If the park is empty, then we should attract investment. Isn't that Uncle Ji's specialty?" Chen Jinnian asked.

Ji Shengli is a leading cadre with a legal background. His understanding of the manufacturing industry is indeed very different from that of leading cadres with an engineering background.

Nowadays, the emphasis is on the physical manufacturing industry. If Ji Shengli cannot achieve any political achievements in the industrial sector, it is highly likely that he will be blocked from promotion to a ministerial position.

However, when it comes to deepening reform and attracting investment, Chen Jinnian knows that Ji Shengli has his own set of methods, otherwise he would not have been able to rise to the department-level cadre.

"It's getting harder now. We don't want everything when it comes to attracting investment these days. Heavy-polluting manufacturing companies, while they can provide a lot of jobs and tax revenue, leave serious consequences. Light industry is a possibility, and we've visited many places, but they all rely on upstream and downstream support systems, so it's impossible to move their factories to Zhonghai."

"What about high-tech enterprises?"

"I welcome high-tech enterprises very much, but there are too few of them, and they are all in the south and big cities," Ji Shengli explained casually.

Chen Jinnian thought for a moment and asked tentatively, "If we bring our company over, can we get support from the city? I mean, through the formal channels."

"Jinnian, do you have any ideas when asking these questions?" Ji Shengli heard some other meanings from his tone.

"Indeed." Chen Jinnian admitted frankly.

"The cost of first-tier cities is too high. It's expensive not only from the company's perspective, but also from the employee's perspective. Just the cost of renting a house is a considerable expense, not to mention buying a house to settle down. It's simply impossible to achieve."

"So I plan to move my company out of Beijing. Not only my company, but also another game production company I invested in has the same idea."

Both Chen Jinnian and Feng Ji discussed these matters.

Whether it is special effects production or game production, the cost of manpower investment is very high. If you stay in a first-tier city, the cost is astronomical. The company has to pay a lot of money, and the money earned by the employees' hard work is also taken away by the landlord.

If they move to a small city, employees will not have such great pressure to survive. If they work hard for five or six years, they can buy a house and a car in full. Naturally, they will devote themselves to their work more attentively.

"It's a good thing that you plan to relocate the company." Ji Shengli said happily.

Although Chen Jinnian's company does not provide many jobs, it is considered a large enterprise in Zhonghai based on annual turnover. More importantly, Chen Jinnian is famous and is a business card for external introduction.

If Chen Jinnian's company can move to Zhonghai, it will be easier for Ji Shengli to introduce similar companies in the future.

"As long as you can go, our city will definitely take care of the tax bill, and you don't even have to worry about the office location. The city can even allocate a dedicated park for you."

What Ji Shengli said are all normal procedures and legal policies, and he can guarantee that the treatment will be given.

"By the way, how many people are there in your company now?"

"Well, due to the size of the office space, my company is not fully staffed. If we hire all the employees, there will be about 800 to 1000 people," Chen Jinnian made a rough estimate.

"I'm not sure about the gaming company, but if they're willing to move there, it'll probably be a team of 500 to 600 people."

"So many." Ji Shengli was slightly surprised. The company's scale far exceeded his previous expectations. He stood up hurriedly and said, "Then we need to find a place to have a serious discussion and make a good plan."

"Hey, please sit down quickly. You can't forget your work even on New Year's Day. We can talk slowly when you go back to work after the New Year." Liu Jing hurriedly called Ji Shengli.

Ji Shengli suddenly woke up and slapped his forehead in regret, "It's my fault for being too anxious. Let's eat first."