Thirty Years of Turbulence - Chinese Enterprises

作者：admin  点击次数：23  发布时间：2025-05-07

In 1979, dramatically, the most famous entrepreneur in China was a fictional character named Qiao Guangpu.

The novella "Director Qiao's Appointment" by Tianjin writer Jiang Zilong was published in the July 1979 issue of "People's Literature". This is a novel name that is plain and unremarkable, but implies a mysterious meaning. It seems to foreshadow the beginning of a certain kind, the emergence of a new force, and the sudden appearance of a new era. In many years that followed, people became accustomed to using 'Director Qiao' to describe those who carried out reforms.

Director Qiao's story seems to come from life itself. There is a heavy motor factory that has not completed its production tasks for two and a half years. A person named Qiao Guangpu broke the silence and volunteered himself. He even publicly issued a military order, requesting the revocation of all positions inside and outside the party if he did not complete the national plan. This military order may sound a bit inexplicable now, but at that time it was the most severe punishment for a person.

After Director Qiao took office, his deputy was the former leader of the rebel faction in the factory. During the Cultural Revolution, he criticized Qiao for "political symbolization" of the opposite of the reform, which was the most popular technique at that time. As a result, their conflict arose from the beginning. The situation in this factory is certainly very bad. The workers are not motivated, and there are many conflicts among the cadres. Director Qiao soon started to "set fire" and pushed more than 9000 employees into the arena of large-scale assessment and evaluation, leaving behind elite soldiers. Those who did not pass the assessment were formed into service teams to replace migrant workers in infrastructure and transportation. Director Qiao also personally went on a business trip to engage in diplomacy, to resolve issues related to raw materials, fuel, and cooperation among various stakeholders. His actions naturally offended many people, and as a result, complaints, rebellions, and smears occurred one after another. However, Director Qiao showed great courage and shouted loudly, "I'm not afraid of this. This is what I have to do as a director for a day