Chapter 286 The Problem of Economic Growth in Handong

"Secretary Chen, you've arrived very early! Secretary Sha asked me to wait for you, but I didn't expect you to be here so soon after I came downstairs!"

Secretary Bai's words were quite interesting. In fact, he had been waiting for almost an hour. However, if he told Chen Luo that he had been waiting for an hour, would he be blaming Chen Luo for arriving too late, or praising his own patience?

However, none of this matters, because Chen Luo doesn't care.

"Secretary Bai, you just said that Secretary Sha asked you to wait for me?"

Chen Luo's focus was solely on Sha Ruijin, and Secretary Bai, being astute, didn't beat around the bush and directly explained the situation.

"Yes, Secretary Chen. Secretary Sha told me to let you know after you arrive at the Provincial Party Committee. Secretary Sha has some work-related matters to discuss with you. As for the time, just go directly to Secretary Sha's office after you arrive at the Provincial Party Committee."

Chen Luo smiled and nodded. "Okay, I understand, Secretary Bai."

As Chen Luo spoke, he walked past Secretary Bai toward the elevator. Secretary Bai followed closely behind. Before Chen Luo could press the up button, Secretary Bai stepped forward and pressed it first.

"Thank you, Secretary Bai."

Seeing this, Chen Luo also politely declined. Upon hearing the word "thank you," Secretary Bai's smile became even sweeter, as if she had eaten honey.

"Secretary Chen, this is all part of my job. You don't need to be so polite. Compared to the amount of work you do to benefit millions of people in Luzhou, me pressing an elevator button for you is just my way of serving the people!"

The elevator doors opened, and Secretary Bai first gestured for Chen Luo to go in first before following him. She pressed the button for the seventh floor, where the provincial party secretary's office was located. After all, the saying "seven up, eight down" is a kind of unspoken rule.

"Xiao Bai, is working under a lot of pressure around Secretary Sha?"

Chen Luo smiled and asked, his eyes narrowed. Secretary Bai's mind raced, and she finally managed to say, "Secretary Chen, it's my good fortune to work alongside Secretary Sha. To be honest, being Secretary Sha's personal secretary has taught me a great deal!"

Chen Luo nodded.

"Being a secretary requires understanding all sorts of tasks and considering all kinds of receptions and issues. It's a very demanding job, but you're still young, only forty. After accumulating enough work experience in a couple of years, you can go to the grassroots level to further your skills. Your future prospects are limitless!"

Secretary Bai found these words particularly complicated. Were you happy?

He was happy. Although it was said to be at the grassroots level, his status meant that he would likely be promoted one level to deputy director-general level. If he received attention and someone gave him a push, he could be appointed as the secretary of a key county and concurrently serve as a member of the municipal party committee standing committee. That would be the road to success.

Even without a push, he could easily become an ordinary deputy mayor. The key issue is that Chen Luo's claim that his future is limitless is just flattery. Who has a brighter future than Chen Luo?

"Secretary Chen, to be honest, I really want to do something practical for the people at the grassroots level, but I may not have such an opportunity now. As for the future... I don't know how the organization will arrange for me."

Chen Luo didn't respond to this. After all, Secretary Bai was still Sha Ruijin's full-time secretary at the moment, and Sha Ruijin would decide how to arrange things in a couple of years. Although Chen Luo admired her, there were some things he couldn't overstep his bounds on.

Just then, the elevator doors opened, and Chen Luo took the opportunity to get out of the elevator first, with Secretary Bai pretending nothing had happened and following behind.

Arriving at Sha Ruijin's office, Chen Luo casually pushed the door open and entered, while Secretary Bai stood outside and gently closed the door behind him.

Upon entering the office, Chen Luo saw Sha Ruijin sitting on the sofa, examining a document. When Chen Luo came in, Sha Ruijin put the document aside, then took off his glasses, a smile appearing on his face.

"Comrade Chen Luo, please sit down, there's no need to be so polite."

Chen Luo wasn't one to stand on ceremony, and if Sha Ruijin had spoken any slower, he would have sat down.

"Secretary Sha, Secretary Bai just said you have some work-related matters to discuss with me? What exactly do you want to discuss with me, Secretary Sha?"

When the topic turned to serious matters, Sha Ruijin also became serious.

"Comrade Chen Luo, there are two things I need to tell you. First, the GDP data for the first half of the year in Handong has been released. Overall, the data is encouraging, but half of the growth came from Luzhou. The situation in other cities is rather serious!"

Take Jingzhou for example. Its GDP in the first half of the year did not increase compared to the same period last year; in fact, it decreased by 0.2 percentage points. The growth rate of other cities also decreased year-on-year. If it weren't for Luzhou's data leveling out, Handong's economy in the first half of the year would likely have been worse than the same period last year.

I'm still not a competent provincial party secretary!

Chen Luo wasn't surprised by this data. If he hadn't concurrently served as the Party Secretary of Lüzhou City, and things had unfolded as they did, Handong would have experienced its first economic downturn in decades. As for the reasons...

In short, some people in Handong are too busy with their struggles.

Sha Ruijin was one of the first to realize this. After all, data is cold and hard, and leveling the score in Luzhou cannot erase his incompetence. On the contrary, it will make the leaders above think deeply about where he, as the provincial party secretary, has actually played his role.

"Secretary Sha, you could actually have the comrades from the National Development and Reform Commission and the General Office summarize the specific reasons."

That makes sense, but Chen Luo didn't intend to point it out directly, and Sha Ruijin sighed upon hearing it.

"Comrade Chen Luo, even if you don't say it, I already know. We came to Handong at the same time, and it's almost been a year now. We have indeed done a good job in our anti-corruption work."

However, while fighting corruption and promoting integrity, the impact on economic development was not considered. For example, the Luzhou Food City scared away several businessmen who planned to invest in Handong.

Oh no! This shouldn't be happening!

Chen Luo rolled his eyes upon hearing this, as if to say, "So even you, Sha Ruijin, know that doing this is wrong."

"Um... Comrade Chen Luo, the development of Luzhou fully demonstrates that your economic development capabilities are outstanding."

"Comrade Chen Luo, as the provincial party secretary, I would like to ask you for some advice, to have you teach me something. What work needs to be done for the economic development of Handong? Consider this a question on behalf of the tens of millions of people in Handong. Comrade Chen Luo, I sincerely ask for your guidance!"

Sha Ruijin adopted a very humble attitude; he was afraid that if other cities continued to experience such a snail-like economic slowdown, he feared he would be transferred before his term ended.

"Ahem, Secretary Sha, you're being too kind. But you're absolutely right. We can't ignore the fundamental interests of tens of millions of people in Handong."

The problem in Handong is actually a matter of attitude. The downfall of one official often drags down a string of businessmen, and the handling of these businessmen needs to be done with caution.

We can't let it go unchecked, but we also can't resort to harsh measures; handling it too strictly will easily scare people away.

"I now realize this, and there are solutions. We should focus on the major issues and let go of the minor ones. We should not make a big deal out of minor problems. At the same time, we should try to optimize the business environment so that corruption has no opportunity to occur."