China News Network Baoding, September 9 Topic: Zhuozhou book publishing industry in the resumption of work and production: self-help, mutual aid and "other assistance"
China News Network reporter Niu Lin
Affected by the flood disaster some time ago, 227 publishing and printing enterprises in Zhuozhou City, Hebei Province were damaged to varying degrees. A reporter from Chinanews.com found that recently, with the help of the government and all walks of life, more than eighty percent of local publishing and printing and distribution enterprises have resumed work and production in self-help, mutual assistance and "other assistance".
"Change" and "Unchanged" of Zhongtu.com
After more than a month of dredging sanitize, book rescue and sorting, Zhongtu.com, which suffered heavy damage to its storage base in the Zhuozhou flood, announced its official resumption of work on September 9 and launched a live broadcast session.
On September 9, after the resumption of work, Zhongtu Net Zhuozhou storage base. Photo by Xing Zhanshan
Although he has passed the "most difficult moment" at the beginning of the flood, Liu Jinghui, deputy general manager who has accompanied Huang Ping, the founder of Zhongtu.com, for many years, still choked up several times when he talked about "more than 400% of more than 80 million books were damaged, and the 'family base' (out-of-print books) accumulated for many years was flooded".
The difficulty of the book cleaning process is more of a psychological impact. "Books have life and temperature, they are like their own children, distressed." Occasionally, he could pick out one or two intact surviving books from the mud books, which made Liu and his partners very happy.
Self-rescue, starting from the first time after the disaster, the "Zhongtu.com Gas Pack", which contains 4 unknown books, was launched on the evening of August 8, which attracted widespread attention and support. But the Zhongtu.com team quickly realized that this was a fuel pack in the form of a blind box, and reading was a personal and personalized thing after all.
"What kind of 4 books should be given back to live up to everyone's expectations and support?" In this regard, Liu Jinghui was very apprehensive. She said that since the launch of the gas pack, the selection team has been screening day and night, carefully reading each book, and carefully considering the needs of new and old book lovers.
On September 9, after the resumption of work, Zhongtu Net Zhuozhou storage base. Photo by Xing Zhanshan
In parallel with self-help, there is also help. The "Cultural and Creative Gas Pack" was launched on August 8, and 3% of the sales revenue of this "Gas Pack" was used to help the disaster-stricken colleagues.
"About 40,<> yuan, we used this money to purchase packaging equipment and printing materials, donated to colleagues who were seriously affected by the disaster, and are currently distributing them one after another." Liu Jinghui said frankly that although Zhongtu.com is still working hard to get out of the predicament, after all, there is a platform that can speak out, and it is "a little bit of help" for the disaster-stricken colleagues.
On September 9, Liu Jinghui, deputy general manager of Zhongtu.com, checked the newly entered books. Photo by Xing Zhanshan
Regarding the future, Liu Jinghui has been saying "look forward". On the issue of "long-term survival", she said that the paper book industry has not reached the top, and Zhongtu.com will "keep the fundamentals" and adhere to the characteristics and positioning of the publishing house's "tail goods selection", "We have survived by this feature for so many years."
In Liu Jinghui's eyes, what needs to be "changed" is to adjust the operation mode and sales model according to the needs of market development. In this regard, she did not shy away from saying that she had not done a good job of live streaming books before, and failed to take the lead, and now everyone is pouring in, how to stand out is a problem that needs to be considered.
Zhongtu.com, which has been "rooted" in Zhuozhou for more than 5 years, has many employees who are local to Zhuozhou, and most of the Beijing employees when they first arrived in Zhuozhou have already settled in the local area.
"We chose to rebuild in situ, and we hope that everyone can stabilize it." Liu Jinghui said that the government has issued relief funds for dredging sanitize and resumption of work and production, and introduced government interest discount policies for bank loans, which has become a "reassuring pill" to support their progress.
Southwest logistics of "big banner does not fall"
Located in Zhuozhou City's wharf town, Beijing's southwest logistics center Zhuozhou Park (hereinafter referred to as Southwest Logistics) resumed work earlier.
As a leading enterprise in China's book warehousing and logistics, nearly 13 book hosting and self-managed merchants have gathered in the 80,<>-square-meter park. Due to its large size, Southwest Logistics was severely damaged in the flood.
On September 9, after the resumption of work, the Zhuozhou Garden library of the southwest logistics center in Beijing. Photo by Xing Zhanshan
"The park officially resumed work on August 8 and began to take stock. At that time, it was the autumn textbook release season, and merchants needed to send textbooks to major universities, and they were in a hurry. Han Biao, head of Zhuozhou Park, a logistics center in southwest Beijing, said that in order to meet the conditions for resumption of work as soon as possible, the park urgently invested about 16 people and completed the dredging and wet and dry separation of books in only 500 days.
"According to preliminary statistics, the loss of about 7500 million books is lost." Seeing the merchant books damaged, this made Han Biao, who has dealt with books in Southwest Logistics for 19 years, shed tears, "The park has insured all the books of the hosted merchants, although it can be paid, but there will also be damage." ”
On September 9, after the resumption of work, the Zhuozhou Garden library of the southwest logistics center in Beijing. Photo by Xing Zhanshan
How to make amends and stabilize the army's heart? This has become a top priority after the resumption of work in Southwest Logistics.
"We first stated to the merchants that the park will not be relocated, and the 'banner of Southwest Logistics' will not fall." Han Biao said that since April 2017, due to Beijing's non-capital function dredging to Zhuozhou operation, relying on the geographical advantage of being close to Beijing, driven by southwest logistics, a cluster-type book printing, publishing and distribution industry chain has been formed in the surrounding area, and the relocation is bound to "break the bones".
In order to fundamentally eliminate the concerns of merchants, the park decided to start the construction of flood control projects. In the "Notification Letter" to the tenants of the park on September 9, the contents of the comprehensive renovation and upgrading of the water storage project in the park, the construction of a more stable and efficient drainage system, and the elevation of the park to 4.1 meters to 7 meters according to the terrain were widely announced.
At the same time, the promise to give all disaster-stricken book enterprises in the park a six-month rent-free period, and to give rent preferential policies within 3 years after the rent-free period, has become a powerful measure for the park to relieve the urgent needs of merchants. "After six months of rent-free, the rent in the first year has been reduced by 70%." Han Biao said.
On September 9, Beijing Jiwen Tianxia Cultural Development Co., Ltd. rented a library warehouse in Zhuozhou Park, a logistics center in southwest Beijing. Photo by Xing Zhanshan
In recent days, in order to cooperate with the construction of the park's flood control project, Zou Bin, the head of Beijing Jiwen Tianxia Cultural Development Co., Ltd., is busy directing workers to move books to two new warehouses in the park. The new warehouses each cover an area of 1,3 square meters, one of which has been officially opened.
As one of the first book companies to settle in Southwest Logistics in May 2017, Zou Bin said that Zhuozhou has convenient transportation, good industrial agglomeration effect, and complete supporting facilities in Southwest Logistics, rich experience in book warehousing and logistics operations, and management and service in place, he chose to stick to and expand operations.
"After the park introduced a series of policies such as rent reduction, merchants are signing contracts one after another, and most of them have decided to stay." Han Biao said that the park actively responded to the government interest discount policy issued by the Zhuozhou Municipal Government, and has now been connected with financial institutions, which will formulate special plans for the disaster-stricken book enterprises in the park, and send commissioners to the park to facilitate direct communication with book enterprises.
In response to the insurance issues that merchants are concerned about, Han Biao said that the park will coordinate with the government to assign insurance companies to settle in the park and formulate special property insurance for book companies.
"Everyone has confidence in the future." Han Biao said.
"Combined fist" with the help of the government
On September 9, a newly arrived two-color printing machine in Hebei Huashang Printing Co., Ltd. in Dongxianpo Town, Zhuozhou City, heralded the resumption of production of the printing company that had been badly damaged by the flood.
On September 9, the newly purchased printing press of Hebei Huashang Printing Co., Ltd. was in operation. Photo by Wu Yanpeng
"At that time, the water poured into the factory building was 3.6 meters deep, all eight imported printing presses in the workshop on the first floor were flooded, and almost all the more than 8,9 lings of paper deposited by the publishing house were scrapped." On September 15, in the office of Yang Yuansheng, the head of Hebei Huashang Printing Co., Ltd., on the second floor, the wooden desk was soaked by floodwaters, and cracks <> or <> centimeters high near the ground were clearly visible.
"You can only persevere, there is no second way." In the face of losses, Yang Yuansheng, who has been engaged in the printing industry for 31 years, said frankly, "Customers are the most important resources, fortunately, customers are still there, and losses need time to make up." ”
Relying on the credit accumulated over the years, Yang Yuansheng said that customers understand the difficulties encountered by the company, and have been busy dred sanitize ging the factory for more than a month, and there has been no supplier collection.
"The government's dredging sanitize and resumption of work and production relief funds have been issued, and insurance claims have come to an end." For Yang Yuansheng, financing is the top priority at the moment. "The government introduced a discount policy, and I borrowed 500 million yuan through the bank, which can be regarded as a solution to the urgent need."
New equipment is being put on the ground, and old equipment that has been soaked in water is also under intensive repair. "It is expected that it will be fully started by the end of October, and the production capacity can reach 10% of the previous one." Yang Yuansheng planned that the old equipment can be used as a capacity expansion after maintenance, and the new and old equipment form a high and low match.
On September 9, workers in the workshop of Hebei Huashang Printing Co., Ltd. repaired flood-soaked printing equipment. Photo by Wu Yanpeng
"Due to the strong growth momentum of corporate sales in the first half of the year, it is expected that this year's full-year sales will still exceed last year." Yang Yuansheng said optimistically that Zhuozhou is adjacent to Beijing, with convenient transportation, and the company has formed a stable source of customers with years of accumulation, "it is expected to recover in three to five years."
Hebei Wensheng Printing Co., Ltd., which also suffered serious losses in the Zhuozhou flood, also chose to purchase new equipment through a bank loan of 500 million yuan, and began to resume production on August 8.
"The old equipment is seriously flooded, the maintenance period is long, and there is still a funding gap of 500 million yuan for the purchase of new equipment." Ning Jixin, the person in charge of Hebei Wensheng Printing Co., Ltd., also chose to stick to Zhuozhou's geographical advantages and the company's stable customer source are the two factors he focuses on.
On September 9th, the workshop of Zhuozhou Xinghe Printing Co., Ltd. was in production. Photo by Wu Yanpeng
In the process of self-help of Zhuozhou publishing and printing and distribution enterprises, all parties have provided assistance, and the local government has also sacrificed a "combined fist" to fully serve enterprises to resume work and production.
According to Wang Xiaofan, deputy director of the Propaganda Department of the Zhuozhou Municipal Party Committee and director of the Press and Publication Bureau, 182 Zhuozhou publishing and printing and distribution enterprises have resumed work and production. The government's dredging sanitize and resumption of work and production relief funds for publishing and printing and distribution enterprises are being distributed one after another, and bank-enterprise matchmaking meetings are being organized to introduce government interest discount policies to help enterprises solve capital problems.
At the same time, it actively coordinates the rent reduction and reduction of enterprises in each park, coordinates the Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, the Administrative Examination and Approval Bureau, the Bureau of Culture, Radio and Tourism, the Municipal Supervision Bureau, the Traffic Bureau and other units to provide preferential policies for the affected enterprises, and mobilizes the printing and distribution association to lead enterprises to actively carry out post-disaster reconstruction and resume work and production as soon as possible. Among them, the Hebei Printing Association donated 16,6 yuan, and the Provincial Press and Publication Group donated materials worth 50,<> yuan.
Upgrading the construction of the park is also under consideration in the future. "It is planned to build a printing enterprise park and a distribution enterprise park to solve the worries of enterprises." Wang Xiaofan said.
According to Qiu Shuzhi, president of the Zhuozhou Printing and Distribution Association, after the flood, Zhuozhou publishing and printing and distribution enterprises must huddle to warm up and recuperate. For the longer-term future, digitalization and intelligence are the general trend, and digital transformation is a must-answer question in front of Zhuozhou publishing and printing enterprises. (End)