Thirty Years of Turbulence - Chinese Enterprises

作者：admin  点击次数：53  发布时间：2025-08-18

In 1981, the two most frequently used terms in Chinese newspapers were "tertiary industry" and "unpaid leave".

The so-called "tertiary industry" refers to the self rescue commercial actions carried out by state-owned enterprises after their main business is obstructed, such as knocking down the original factory walls and renting them to individual businesses to open stores, or organizing idle trucks to establish a transportation company, or using their own channels to engage in some trade businesses.

The active promotion of the "tertiary industry" is undoubtedly a temporary measure with significant sequelae in future practice. It cannot solve the existing problem of low efficiency in state-owned enterprises. Instead, it seems to put aside the most pressing difficulties that need to be solved, such as improving labor efficiency and enhancing product market competitiveness. As a result, state-owned enterprises gradually lose their leading advantages in their respective industries.

The personnel diversion brought about by the "tertiary industry" and "unpaid leave" can temporarily alleviate the urgent problem of redundant employees, but it fundamentally causes a lack of morale within state-owned enterprises, where no one is willing to honestly focus on their job positions, and the core competencies of the enterprise are easily abandoned. Everyone is lazy and leisurely within eight hours, but after work, they become very active like fish in the water. As observed by Zhang Wuchang in Hong Kong, workers in "workplaces" generally lack initiative, are lazy and negligent, and require a three hour nap. But at home, these people will be busy raising chickens or making furniture or other crafts for personal use or selling to friends and family.