There was no time for idle talk. The first thing I focused on was the employees’ salaries. When I think back to
the first half year of my tenure, that is the challenge I vividly remember,because I had to face it every month.
We were not a state-owned enterprise,and given our debt load, the banks were not willing to lend money to us. But
luckily, another option materialized. China’s policy of reform and opening to the outside world meant that wealth
was accumulating beyond the cities, in the urban-rural junctional areas. I was able to borrow money from the nearby
production brigade.