After informing Secretary Rong, she was also very happy and said that since I was back, she didn’t have to worry about anything anymore. “Your government has arranged this matter. It is not convenient for our municipal party committee to come out to receive me. They are international.”
The big companies only recognize the government. But our municipal party committee will fully support you."
What she said is correct. Even when our general secretary visits Western countries, it is in his capacity as president. In the final analysis, this is still an issue of acceptance.
The next morning, I took all the deputy mayors of the city government, the secretary-general of the general office, and all the subordinate departments related to this reception to the highway intersection to greet the company's inspection group. At the same time, I mobilized four people
There were two police cars, two of them were clearing the way in front, and two more were following behind. However, I specifically asked them not to sound the alarm, but to flash the lights.
Foreigners are also very concerned about face, but they often resent some of our practices. For example, ringing the alarm bell to clear the way, maybe they think this is a way of the government to threaten the people.
However, we must ensure that there will be no accidents during this reception. Although I fully believe that most of our citizens are kind and support our work, I cannot guarantee that there will not be some individuals who do not suffer from certain reasons.
Personal reasons instigate some of them to create chaotic situations for us.
It is easy to have this situation anywhere in our country: the more important the government attaches importance to something, the more likely it will be used as an opportunity for blackmail by some people. Such people will not consider the overall situation. All they think in their hearts is
personal self-interest.
What happened at the last groundbreaking ceremony between us and a Japanese company is a very typical example.
During the reception preparation meeting, someone raised the question of whether to arrange for students to line the streets to welcome the guests. I immediately rejected the idea and said, "On the one hand, we don't need to waste people and money, and on the other hand, foreigners may not necessarily like this method."
Someone said: "As far as I know, this is what the high-rise property market does. They organize students to line the streets to welcome the guests, and also arrange for students to give flowers to the guests. If we don't do this, will they think we are a little neglectful? Foreign heads of state
When they come to visit our country, don’t we arrange it in the same way? This shows that foreigners still like this kind of arrangement very much, so that it looks grand."
I still don’t agree with this approach. I said: “When foreign heads of state visit, such arrangements are also an international practice. When our country’s leaders go to their countries, others also arrange it in the same way, because countries need to reflect more on each other.
People are friendly to each other. But it is different when we receive companies. If I were the owner of this company, I might pay more attention to whether the government of the place where I plan to invest is more pragmatic. What companies need is a good investment environment and policies.
, rather than the size of the reception.”
No one said anything more. In fact, the fundamental purpose of holding this meeting was to arrange some details of the reception, not to discuss the reception method.
The inspection team arrived after we waited for about half an hour, probably because of the traffic jam in the provincial capital. The chairman of the board of directors of this company is an American, tall, in his fifties, and his name is Peter. I thought to myself,
Only entrepreneurs of this age can act like such an old fox.
The first thing he said when shaking hands with me was, "I never expected that China would have such young officials."
Before the translator next to me started to translate his words, I already answered him in English, "Mr. Chairman, our country has undergone great changes in the past twenty years, and local officials younger than me have also changed a lot.
Younger, age is no longer the only criterion for measuring an official’s qualifications.”
He glanced at me in surprise, "Mr. Mayor's English is so good? I heard that Mr. Mayor used to be a teacher in a university. As far as I know, ordinary teachers in Chinese universities today do not have such a high level of English, unless they are
Have studied abroad or taught English.”
I smiled and said: "I think language is just a tool for communication, but I attach great importance to such a tool. Mr. Chairman, if we need a translator to communicate, wouldn't it cause a lot of problems?"
obstacles?”
I did not answer his question because I knew that the purpose of his visit this time was to negotiate, and the most taboo thing in the negotiation process is to follow the other party's train of thought. What's more, his question just now criticized the lack of quality of teachers in our colleges and universities.
I mean, this is also a question I must avoid.
I also believe that the negotiations between us have actually started from now on. One thing I am relatively confident about is that at least I, the mayor, gave him a good first impression. I believe that this barrier-free communication method is also his most important thing.
Hopefully, in this way, the common and different views of both parties can be expressed very directly.
In the final analysis, this situation will affect the subconscious mind of the other party: being able to communicate with the mayor here without any barriers will be more helpful for future cooperation.
I hope it will be helpful for this project to show off my English proficiency. At this time, I thought to myself.
Peter immediately laughed, "What Mr. Mayor said makes sense."
Immediately, I introduced my deputy mayors to him one by one without using an interpreter. He also introduced his entourage to me. I was very attentive and recorded them one by one in the shortest possible time.
Their names and positions were recorded.
I first welcomed the delegation to the conference room of our municipal government. This is the largest conference room in our municipal government, and the multimedia equipment inside has already been installed and debugged.
After the members of the inspection team sat down, I directly asked the staff to play the promotional video we shot ourselves.
After returning from Japan this time, the first thing I watched was this promotional video, and then I reviewed other materials. I was not satisfied with the content at the beginning of the promotional video. Local TV stations, including our executive deputy mayor Lao Wu, all had the same problem.
The problem is that when making this kind of short film, we always think about the problem from a political perspective, so the achievements of our reform in Shangjiang City were too much promoted in the first short film.
My opinion is very simple. The content of our promotional video should be in two words: advantages.
Therefore, I asked the TV station to re-edit the content of the short film, and stipulated that the theme should highlight such a key point: Shangjiang City’s past, today, and future. And I specifically requested that no scenes of leaders should appear in the short film.
Examine our city from the perspective of citizens. (To be continued)