After keeping this matter in mind, Zhao Yi and Zhou Jinyu sat on the sofa and started chatting. It was the end of the year. They mainly talked about New Year matters. For example, she asked if she would go to her parents' house to celebrate the New Year this year.
After getting his affirmative answer, Zhou Jinyu's happy smile almost overflowed, and she chatted a lot about her hometown, especially the changes in the past year.
In the past few years, it was difficult to make big changes in relatively remote villages and towns. First, there was not much movement of people. Second, there was not much change in the industrial structure. Many people had been doing the same thing for generations.
But in the past year, there have indeed been great changes. These changes mainly come from two aspects. The first aspect is the large-scale urbanization construction of China Housing Corporation, which has led to a surge in the number of workers.
Due to the huge number of construction projects started at the same time, the demand for labor has also increased sharply. Now in areas where there are not many local industries, the remaining labor force chooses to go out to work.
Even people who originally had a pretty good job started working on construction sites when they saw that the wages were very high. Although they were a bit tired, they made more money than in ordinary factories.
As a result, the town where Zhou Zhigang and his wife lived was also greatly affected. The population was much smaller than before, and families even moved to the city.
However, there are not many cases of family relocation for the time being. It is not that there are few people who have no ideas, but that there is currently not that much housing supply in the city, and the rental area is either small or the rent is very expensive.
As for the education of children who have moved to the city, there is no need to worry too much. Schools built by Chinese education companies in the past were all designed with a certain margin, just for fear that too many people would temporarily attend, causing a shortage of places.
So the main situation at present is that generally men go out to work, while women take care of children and take care of the elderly at home. Since the time is still short, this left-behind situation has not had a big impact.
Moreover, the money earned by going out to work is much higher than that in the local area. The man sends a sum of money home every month, which makes the life of the family easier, and the temporary separation is not so difficult.
Of course, the funds flowing from cities to rural areas can, on the one hand, improve local material living conditions, and on the other hand, they can be converted into housing assets. In the past year, some families have begun to build new houses in their hometowns.
However, this situation is rare. In just one year, you can earn enough money to build a new house. Either you have found a way to make money, or you are a high-level craftsman.
On construction sites, workers are also divided into grades. If you want to get a higher income, you must take the relevant grade exams. The exam fees are temporarily free.
For example, in rural areas, some people have been craftsmen for generations and have a good foundation in their fields. When they go out to work, they find that their craftsmanship is so valuable, so they take grade examinations one after another, and the wages they receive are naturally higher than ordinary people. Much more.
If these people can also do some management work, the salary will be higher. Therefore, the best shortcut to obtain high wages on the construction site is to take the grade examination and obtain a higher grade rating.
Although such changes are not obvious, they are a good start. These are changes brought about by Chinese housing companies, which also allow huge funds to flow from cities to rural areas, bringing great benefits to the local economy in rural areas. vitality.
The second change is that the three levels of government jointly fund the renovation and construction of infrastructure in rural areas. Like the town where Zhou Zhigang and his wife live, the original dirt road in the center of the town is now paved with asphalt.
Moreover, road hardening work has also begun from the town to the county seat, and from the county seat to the rural villages. Even the smallest country roads are paved with asphalt.
Historically, it is difficult to lay asphalt on rural roads. After all, high-quality asphalt is more expensive than cement pavement, and it is also difficult to obtain asphalt in remote areas.
However, the rapid construction of highways in recent years has led to the great expansion of my country's asphalt production capacity, and the construction engineering capabilities of asphalt pavement have also been greatly strengthened.
Of course, the above reasons only solve the problem of asphalt production and allow remote areas to use asphalt, but they are not the main reasons.
Generally speaking, the service life of asphalt pavement is much lower than that of cement pavement. If cement pavement is constructed properly, it can be used for 50 years or even hundreds of years, while asphalt pavement generally has a lifespan of only 15 years.
Secondly, asphalt pavement has high requirements for construction equipment. It requires more types of equipment than cement pavement, and the cost is naturally higher than that of cement pavement.
Moreover, asphalt pavement has high requirements for the strength of the base layer. The subgrade of the cement pavement can basically compact and level the soil base below. This further increases the cost of asphalt pavement construction.
Under normal circumstances, the only advantage of asphalt pavement is that it is more comfortable than cement pavement. No matter in terms of cost or resistance to road diseases, asphalt pavement has no advantage.
It's just that Zhao Yi wanted to significantly increase the service life of the highways he participated in building, reduce highway maintenance costs, thereby reduce highway tolls, and reduce the pressure that highways bring to the transportation industry.
He provides a series of technologies that not only increase the quality of asphalt, but also reduce the production cost of asphalt, thus greatly increasing the service life of asphalt pavement. Under normal circumstances, it can be used for hundreds of years.
This kind of modified asphalt makes the asphalt pavement have very good performance in terms of high temperature resistance and anti-aging, and the price of Cornerstone Materials' special construction strains is now much cheaper than before.
Therefore, in terms of material cost, the gap between the two is not too big. Although asphalt pavement is slightly more expensive, it is not much. It is only about 10% higher than the cost of standard cement pavement, which is within the acceptable range. .
As for the cost of machinery, asphalt pavement is higher than cement pavement, but there is no shortage of various mechanical equipment across the country, and the cost of machinery is much lower than before. Of course, Tianshu Machinery Company is responsible for this.
In addition to the above reasons, there is of course a more important reason, which is that the urbanization started by China Housing Corporation requires a large amount of cement. As far as the current cement production is concerned, laying rural roads is still not enough.
And as far as cement plants are concerned, the profit margin obtained by providing high-performance cement materials to China Housing Company is much higher than that of ordinary cement. In the case of limited production, of course, it is a limited supply to China Housing Company.
Moreover, the country is now gradually beginning to pay attention to environmental protection issues. The expansion of cement plant production requires government approval. It is not possible to expand production casually if you have money and technology.
In order to avoid the trouble of approval, major cement plants will use their limited production capacity on more profitable cement types, and the production volume of ordinary cement will naturally be much less.
Another important reason is that my country has begun to increase the import of heavy crude oil and reduce the proportion of light crude oil. The price of heavy crude oil itself is much cheaper than that of light crude oil.
Light crude oil can refine more fuel oils such as gasoline and diesel. In the past, my country's main oil reserves were this kind of light crude oil. The purpose was to avoid threats to petroleum energy, while heavy crude oil can extract a higher proportion of asphalt.
However, since the year before last, Zhao Yi has asked Shenlong Automobile Company and Xingkong Power Company to do a good job in replacing new energy sources. I believe that China International Petrochemical Company, as a major domestic oil importer, will naturally adjust the type of imported oil.
Especially after Shenlong Motors' new energy vehicles went on sale and sales were booming, both the government and oil refining companies have reached a consensus to reduce the import of light crude oil and increase the import of heavy crude oil.
The increase in the proportion of heavy crude oil will naturally lead to a substantial increase in asphalt production, and the price of asphalt will also decline significantly. This trend will become more and more obvious in the future.
In the future, the proportion of oil as an energy source in my country's energy structure will become smaller and smaller. On the contrary, the proportion of oil as a basic raw material will become higher and higher, especially in this current era of infrastructure construction.
Since the global demand for light crude oil is currently the highest, most countries exploit light crude oil because sales are the highest.
Moreover, during the mining process, the mining cost of heavy crude oil is higher than that of light crude oil. This is also an important reason why major oil-producing countries are unwilling to increase the mining of heavy crude oil.
However, my country's demand for heavy crude oil will be very strong in the future. Therefore, in response to this situation, Huaxia International Petrochemical Company has deployed heavy crude oil mining business around the world and won the mining rights of many heavy crude oil fields.
80% of the world's heavy crude oil reserves are located in Venezuela, Canada and the Soviet Union. China International Petrochemical Company's current main oil exploration investment area is Canada.
As for Venezuela, they began an oil nationalization movement in 1972, and it was very difficult for private companies to obtain oil field exploration rights in this country.
As for the Soviet Union, let alone that. Not to mention that their oil resources are also state-owned, and the current relationship between the two countries is not very good. Huaxia International Petrochemical Company has no chance at all.
In fact, the profit margin of heavy crude oil is very low. On the one hand, the mining cost is very high, and on the other hand, the selling price is relatively low, so it is understandable that the profit is not large.
But these are all previous situations. As my country's demand for heavy crude oil continues to rise, it is highly likely that the price of heavy crude oil will increase in the future.
This is why Huaxia International Petrochemical Company must prepare in advance. On the one hand, it will increase investment in the field of heavy crude oil extraction and expand the amount of heavy crude oil extracted.
At the same time, they also have advanced heavy crude oil mining technology, and the mining cost can basically reach the same level as the light crude oil mining cost.
The world has not yet realized that it is a very cost-effective deal to obtain a large number of heavy crude oil field exploration rights in advance, and the profit margin will definitely satisfy Huaxia International Petrochemical Company.
More importantly, when the international community has not yet accurately estimated my country's heavy crude oil demand, it is very cheap to win the mining rights of these oil fields. After all, heavy crude oil itself is not very profitable.
Therefore, Huaxia International Petrochemical Company has acquired almost all of Canada's heavy crude oil fields. In order to reduce unnecessary trouble, these oil fields are all under the name of Hong Kong umbrella holding companies.
Anyway, Huaxia International Petrochemical Company provided the money, and they benefited from it. As for the Hong Kong Umbrella Holdings Company, it just got a reputation. Anyway, they all have the same boss, so it is very convenient to operate.
As for the capital exchanges between the two companies, they can be settled through various channels, ensuring that no one can find any problems on the surface. It is precisely because of this that so many oil field exploration rights can be obtained in Canada.
As for Venezuela, Huaxia International Petrochemical Company has reduced their mining costs through technical support. The two parties signed an exclusive supply contract and promised to provide heavy crude oil to Huaxia International Petrochemical Company at a cheaper price.
Although my country will inevitably rely more on heavy crude oil in the future, the total volume of crude oil imports is showing a downward trend.
In addition, my country will be the main buyer of heavy crude oil. If these heavy crude oil exporting countries want to easily increase the price of heavy crude oil, they also need to weigh the consequences of doing so.
When the supplier is relatively single, the supplier will naturally have greater bargaining power. Conversely, if the buyer is relatively single, the buyer will naturally have greater bargaining power.
In addition to its layout in these two countries, Huaxia International Petrochemical Company has also made relevant arrangements in other important oil-producing areas to create a situation of diversifying oil sources and avoid uncontrollable factors in the future.
In fact, the reserves of heavy crude oil are very abundant, which is equivalent to the total reserves of light crude oil and medium crude oil. As long as the problem of mining cost is solved, and the demand is small and single, it is not very easy for our country to obtain relatively cheap heavy crude oil. difficulty.
As Zhou Jinyu talked about the changes in his hometown, his interest became more and more intense, and he was even eager to go there and have a look, because he felt an inexplicable sense of accomplishment.
Although he doesn't go out all year round, the world will change because of him. This feeling is difficult for people who are not involved to feel it, but it is wonderful anyway.
However, he actually disagrees with starting to build houses in his hometown now, because a large number of people will migrate to live in cities in the future.
If you move home in the future, investing in building a new house now is a waste. Of course, if there are still people living in your hometown in the future, you can consider it.
However, this situation is less likely to happen in the future. This life is different from the previous life. All kinds of benefits are relatively equal. There is not much difference between the elderly living in the city and living in the countryside.
According to the current national pension welfare system, elderly people in the countryside can live well in the city with their pensions, at least without any problems in their daily lives.
Moreover, in terms of medical care, cities have more abundant resources than those in rural areas. Due to free medical care, there is no burden on them in terms of medical care in cities and rural areas.
Coupled with the substitution of green energy starting now, although the urban air environment is not comparable to that in the countryside, it is not too bad.
Moreover, when China Housing Corporation carried out urbanization construction, it left sufficient green areas, leisure places, etc. to make the city a livable city.
On the other hand, the government may provide certain subsidies for the construction of rural houses in the future, and will also conduct an overall transformation of the natural village environment to make the countryside more livable.
It is now impossible to not have enough. The government needs to invest a large amount of funds in infrastructure construction. For the time being, it does not have the funds to take care of this aspect.
According to the plan, in the future, each county will deploy some industries to meet the employment problems of the population in the county area. In terms of transportation convenience, it can basically be achieved that you can drive to the county from any village within an hour.
In fact, as long as the commuting time to work is within half an hour, residents basically do not need to buy a house in the county and can live directly in their own village.
In this case, residents who are too far away from the county seat can choose to move to the county seat, while residents in areas closer to the county seat can choose to live in their original villages.
Although Zhao Yi strives to promote the urbanization process, he does not mean that urbanization is necessarily good. It can be said that there are pros and cons, depending on how you think about it.
Urbanization is definitely better than dispersed living in terms of resource allocation, and it is also easier to create new demands and jobs, making the employment ecology more complex.
However, urbanization also brings some problems, such as the deconstruction of traditional social relations, relatively high pressure in life, and poorer environmental quality than in the countryside, etc.
Especially when encountering major natural disasters, cities face greater difficulties than county towns and rural areas, and cause greater losses.
Therefore, in his concept, urbanization rate cannot be pursued blindly, but the two should be combined with each other. A group of medium and large cities are needed to take the lead in my country's economic development.
We must also strive to develop small and medium-sized towns, maintain stable employment in small and medium-sized towns, form a situation in which many county-level towns develop around large cities, and achieve the goal of all-round development.
"By the way, I have a colleague who is shooting video materials focusing on the power of the times. He has set up many cameras in Changping for delayed shooting.
It's just that the effect of the design cannot be seen for the time being. There are currently many hanging towers, which does not look beautiful at all. And when viewed through the sand table, it is not specific enough.
You are a scientist. Is there a way to let people feel the appearance of the future city immersively? In that case, the effect will be better. " Zhou Jinyu asked.
Currently, if you want to check the effect of urbanization, you can either use a sandbox or simulation software. For example, the construction subsidiary of China Housing Corporation has simulation diagrams of this effect.
However, it is difficult for ordinary people to have access to such things, and there are even few opportunities to see the sand table. Many people can only quietly wait for the completion of the construction of the new city before they can feel the power of the times.
So is there any way to make citizens feel the changes of the times in advance? Zhao Yi not only fell into deep thought, he rarely thought about this aspect before because he felt it was unnecessary.
After Zhou Jinyu’s reminder, it turns out that there is still a demand in this area. If there is a demand, it means there is a market, and if there is a market, it means that an industry can be developed.
This reminded him of the holographic projection equipment in his previous life. If he developed the relevant holographic projection equipment himself, he could basically solve this problem. (End of chapter)