Reborn as Zhao Ruilong of Handong, I will defy fate.

Chapter 214 Regulating the Real Estate Market: I, Zhao Lichun, dare to be the first in the world!

Is it worth it? Is it fair?

Zhao Ruilong's last two questions left Zhao Lichun speechless.

The study was also filled with a deathly silence.

Zhao Lichun raised his head slightly and stared at his beloved son, who was questioning him, for a long time.

suddenly.

He didn't find his son's two questions particularly difficult to answer.

I was just incredibly surprised.

As the son of a powerful and wealthy family, how could he ask such a question?

Local governments have developed a reliance on land revenue, leading to the rapid development of the real estate market.

Isn't this what the children of the powerful and wealthy want to see?

Isn't this very advantageous for Huilong Group, which has a real estate development business?

Take the Lakeside Garden residential community, developed by Huilong Group in Lüzhou City, as an example.

A whopping 85 square meters!

Selling each square meter for an extra 100 yuan would generate an additional 8500 million yuan in profit.

If we can sell 1000 more, that would be 850 million!

This is all legal and compliant, and it's real profit!

Therefore, from the perspective of interests...

The son, Zhao Ruilong, should be hoping that housing prices will rise as high as possible.

however……

He is both the son of a powerful and wealthy family and the beloved son of a real estate developer.

Instead of taking advantage of this precious opportunity that ordinary people could only dream of, he spoke for his own interests during his conversation with President Shen, and instead proposed to regulate the real estate market.

He even questioned whether it was worthwhile and fair for someone in a high position to drain and overdraw the wealth and future of countless people for the sake of short-term economic growth and the interests of powerful capitalists.

Take a deep breath.

Zhao Lichun forced himself to calm down.

"Please sit down!"

Zhao Lichun picked up his teacup and took a big gulp of strong tea.

Looking at his serious-looking son, he quickly racked his brains trying to figure out why his son would say or have such an attitude.

Think about the interactions between the two of them on a daily basis.

Think again about all the things your son has done since he went into business after being released from prison.

soon.

Zhao Lichun then understood.

“My precious son is no ordinary son of a powerful and wealthy family.”

"He is not interested in money, does not consider his own interests at all, and is wholeheartedly dedicated to benefiting the people!"

"Otherwise, if he were truly obsessed with making money, why would he have used the more than 100 billion US dollars he brought in from abroad to invest in high technology and help Handong develop a high-quality economy?"

"His actions were clearly not solely due to his broad vision and compassion for the people, nor were they simply for fame or fortune. Rather, he wanted to help me achieve something significant and make substantial progress!"

Having served in politics for many years, Zhao Lichun is undoubtedly insightful and incredibly intelligent.

After appreciating his son's good intentions, Zhao Lichun offered him a cigarette.

"This is truly not worth it, and it's very unfair!"

"We are a country where the people are the masters, so we should always think about the people's interests."

"Our goal is not so much to make the country strong and the people rich, but rather to enable more than a billion people to live a good life."

"But simply ensuring that we have enough to eat and wear is clearly not enough. We must also ensure that everyone has access to education, employment, medical care, elderly care, housing, and assistance for the vulnerable!"

"Millions of ordinary people also have the simple desire to live a better life. Who doesn't want to eat well, live well, drive a car, have money to spend, and not worry about not being able to afford medical treatment or education..."

After noticing that his son's expression had softened, Zhao Lichun took a puff of his cigarette before changing the subject.

"However, it's not wrong for you to share your views with President Shen, and it's also fine to suggest regulating the real estate market."

"But given the current situation, I think your expectations are likely to be dashed!"

Zhao Ruilong's brows furrowed in a deep frown.

"why?"

Zhao Lichun gave a bitter smile.

"Don't forget that since land auctions began in the 1980s, various regions have tasted the sweetness of land revenue. Like an addiction to drugs, they have started to engage in large-scale infrastructure construction and frantic expansion."

"It's not that the higher authorities didn't call for a halt. Seven years ago, when you were still in prison, they took action to require local governments to control land supply, prohibit the misuse and over-occupation of arable land, and levy high real estate taxes in an attempt to cool things down."

"But many policies have not been very effective, and the area of ​​arable land continues to decline. Four years ago, the Asia-Pacific financial crisis broke out, and foreign trade exports suffered. In order to stimulate the economy and absorb excess capacity, the situation was left unchecked."

"Enterprises and institutions have abolished welfare housing allocation, the real estate market is getting hotter and hotter, and thousands of development zones have sprung up all over the country like mushrooms after rain. Every year, the amount of arable land lost is as high as millions of hectares."

“Today, the business tax, which is mainly levied on the construction industry, has become the largest tax revenue in local areas. It is said that in some places, it accounts for as much as 40%. Land revenue is becoming a cash cow for local governments. How do you plan to regulate it?”

After taking a deep drag of his cigarette, Zhao Lichun sighed:

"In fact, which of us in high positions doesn't know that land revenue should not become the main source of local tax revenue?"

"Who doesn't know that, for the sake of long-term development and the interests of the people, we cannot allow real estate to become a pillar of the national economy?"

"But son, given the lack of technological leadership, industrial strength, and dominance in mid-to-high-end industries, how can we expect economic prosperity without real estate?"

At this point, Zhao Lichun got up and walked towards the door.

After locking the door, he turned back and stood next to Zhao Ruilong.

Leaning against his desk, he said with a serious expression:

"Tonight, my son and I will close the door and talk about some things that may not be entirely accurate, but are very realistic."

"We both know very well that capital in its primitive accumulation stage is not only dirty and bloody, but also something that cannot be brought to light."

"We don't have the resources to plunder others' wealth through war or exploit the interests of colonies to achieve primitive accumulation, like the old powers did. What can we do?"

"No matter how much we tighten our belts, we can't make good progress in construction. We can only rely on the price scissors between industrial and agricultural products and the contributions of countless farmers to complete the accumulation of industrial base."

"With an industrial base, how do we develop the economy? Education, national defense, infrastructure, people's livelihood, etc., all of these require money. Relying solely on attracting investment and foreign trade exports is clearly not enough!"

"Against this backdrop, real estate, which doesn't involve much high technology but can absorb excess capacity, create a large number of jobs, drive the development of many industries, and contribute a lot of tax revenue to the local area, naturally becomes a hot commodity!"

Zhao Ruilong nodded silently.

Looking at the world, all developed countries went through a period of large-scale infrastructure construction and rapid development of the real estate industry before they became developed.

Because the government can generate substantial revenue from land sales, which can be used for urban development, social welfare, healthcare, education, and other purposes.

Real estate developers, who are responsible for surveying and design, construction, and marketing, can drive the development of industries such as construction engineering, engineering equipment, and building materials, and can also create a large number of jobs.

Only a minority of ordinary people can afford to buy a house outright. When people buy a house with a mortgage, they start making mortgage payments, which gives banks a stable income. Meanwhile, decorating a house and moving in stimulates industries such as decoration, building materials, furniture, and home appliances.

and so……

The economy needs to develop, cities need to be built, a large amount of low- and mid-end industrial capacity needs to be absorbed, many workers with low levels of education need to find employment, countless people moving to cities need housing, and wealthy people are willing to invest in real estate to earn stable returns...

With the combined demands from various parties, real estate has naturally become an indispensable and important industry.

From sporadic development to rapid growth, and then to complete saturation...

The real estate industry in every developed country has gone through this process.

However, the situation in China is somewhat special.

For thousands of years, the people of China have had an even deeper attachment to land and property.

The idea that a home is only a home is deeply ingrained.

A significant portion of the Western population feels that renting is worse than buying, and that renting is not so bad.

But in the Dragon Kingdom...

People who think "it's better to rent than to buy" are extremely rare.

Even if a small percentage of people are willing to rent for life, they still can't get past their mother-in-law's approval.

You need a house to get married, you need a house to feel secure, you need a house to be considered successful in your career...

Under the influence of various ideologies, people in China have a strong desire to buy houses.

In addition, the stock market's wild fluctuations, much like a casino, make ordinary people who have worked hard and finally saved up some money feel that buying a house is better than investing in stocks.

Local governments are eager to sell more land and collect more taxes, major real estate developers are eager to sell more houses, speculators are eager to make more money, and powerful figures are eager to reap more benefits...

Many vested interests are also very happy to try every means to drive up housing prices.

They always find ways to create hype and generate demand.

Whether it's for marriage and starting a family, or for medical care and education.

Or perhaps they're simply following the trend, believing that investing in real estate is a sure way to make money.

There is always a demand that can stimulate the public's nerves.

Even if it means emptying their savings and taking on a mortgage, they will grit their teeth and buy a house.

This is the end.

The drawbacks of the real estate industry began to surface.

Besides leading to over-investment, resource waste, industrial pollution, overcapacity in low-end industries, and difficulties in industrial upgrading and transformation, other drawbacks include...

Its biggest drawback is that while it has benefited some people, it has also caused great suffering to many more.

Especially those who emptied their savings for a down payment, took on heavy mortgages, only to see house prices fall instead of rise, and some even end up with abandoned and undelivered properties.

Once housing prices are driven to extremely high levels, commodity prices will inevitably become expensive as well.

High housing prices and the cost of living make the cost of living extremely high and the pressure of life immense.

As a result, many young people give up striving, and do not date, get married, or have children.

Marriage and birth rates continue to decline, plummeting dramatically, and the population is not only aging but also experiencing negative growth...

The cherry blossoms across the sea are a perfect example.

How could someone in such a high position as Zhao Lichun not see this?

"My son, it's harder to touch upon interests than to touch one's soul!"

Zhao Lichun let out a long sigh of relief.

"Don't you always tell me that the economic base determines the superstructure?"

"Driven by huge profits, who wouldn't want to vigorously develop the real estate market?"

"Moreover, many people only care about themselves, only about making money or getting promoted, and don't care about the future consequences."

Zhao Ruilong smiled faintly.

"Of course I know that blocking someone's path to wealth is like killing their parents!"

"Leaving aside other provinces and cities, even in our Handong, land finance is an extremely important source of fiscal revenue."

"Just like Jingzhou, which is right under our feet, without a booming real estate market and substantial tax revenue, where would we get the money to improve urban construction and offer numerous preferential conditions to attract investment?"

"Without proper urban development, sufficient preferential conditions, and the ability to attract investment, continuously absorb a large influx of people, it is impossible to support the continuous rise in housing prices."

Zhao Lichun said with a wry smile, "So this has already formed a cycle, and it's impossible to break it easily."

"I didn't say I wanted to break the cycle!"

After flicking away his cigarette ash, Zhao Ruilong solemnly said:

"I never said that real estate development is not allowed."

"Nobody wants their whole family to live in a cramped, old house, or even share a bathroom with the entire floor."

"Just because ordinary people have the right to pursue a better life and the desire to improve their living conditions, the real estate industry should be allowed to develop."

"Moreover, we still have a large number of farmers with little education who need to work to earn money, and many industries such as machinery, building materials, and home appliances also need the real estate sector to absorb their production capacity."

"What I told President Shen was that we should implement strong and effective regulation to ensure the healthy development of the real estate industry, prevent cities from expanding blindly, and reduce local governments' reliance on land revenue."

Zhao Lichun asked with a furrowed brow:

"Do you think he will agree to the regulatory policies of restricting loans and purchases?"

The father and son had actually discussed real estate regulation a long time ago.

Because of the development of high-quality economy in Handong, Zhao Ruilong has invested over 100 billion US dollars.

The influx of numerous projects and migrant workers has given the real estate industry in Handong a much-needed boost.

With more people buying houses, real estate developers naturally take advantage of the situation to raise prices in order to make more money.

Jingzhou City, for example, is the provincial capital of Handong and also has a large number of high-tech projects.

Compared to last year, housing prices have risen by 30%.

Some newly opened properties are even daring to ask for 5,000 yuan per square meter.

Currently, most workers in Jingzhou work overtime every month, but their wages and bonuses are still less than three thousand yuan.

Although it hasn't reached the terrifying level of a salary of 3,000 yuan and a housing price of over 10,000 yuan yet, if it's not curbed, it's probably coming soon.

"President Shen has great foresight and will definitely agree."

"However, even if he agrees, it will probably take a long time to turn it into a concrete policy."

After stubbing out his cigarette, Zhao Ruilong turned to look at his father.

"But we from Handong can act as the vanguard!"

"As a pilot area for high-quality economic development, we have a certain degree of autonomy."

"In order to ensure the healthy, orderly and long-term development of the real estate market, suppress speculative housing purchases, and effectively reduce the burden of home purchases for ordinary people, it is only right and proper for us to regulate the real estate market."

"Most importantly, President Shen strongly supported our pilot program. If we succeed in regulating it, it will not only set an example for other provinces and cities, but also make President Shen proud and give him more confidence to promote it nationwide."

"When the real estate market stops overheating and local land revenues decline, it will hurt the interests of some people, and they will definitely hate you. But the hundreds of millions of ordinary people will remember you!"

Zhao Lichun nodded immediately.

"That makes sense! We, Handong, are determined to be the first to try what other provinces dare not do!"

"The reason why I have been able to rise so high in the world all these years is because I dare to fight and be the first in the world!"

"But how exactly should we regulate it? We can't just start by imposing province-wide restrictions on loans and purchases, causing a sharp drop in land revenue for many cities and counties, can we?"

At this point, Zhao Lichun subconsciously glanced at the door.

"Furthermore, once regulations are implemented, housing prices will inevitably decline in the short term."

"How about we wait until all your properties are sold before we make a move?"

Zhao Ruilong was taken aback.

Looking at Zhao Lichun's serious gaze and concerned eyes.

I suddenly realized that everyone does have selfish motives.

By taking advantage of the time difference, you can earn a lot more money.

How could Zhao Lichun, who dotes on his son, not be tempted?

"Sure enough, it's great to have power!"

"I'm willing to invest even if it's just over 100 billion US dollars."

"As long as we can successfully regulate the situation as soon as possible, what does it matter if we lose a few billion in profits?"