As for Lin Sanqi secretly withholding $800 million, this is understandable.
Building such a large industrial park, employing tens of thousands of railway soldiers and intellectuals, and purchasing so many drug production lines and raw material factories, all of these things cost money.
So the $800 million is a cost, a loan, not profit.
Of course, there is also a part of the money that the company needs to maintain daily turnover.
As a southerner, Lin Sanqi has many ideas. If he doesn't have eight hundred, he must have more than six hundred.
Shen Guoming stretched out his hand:
"Minister Li, come on, we'll show you around and you'll understand why we're making so much money."
In the workshop, Minister Li looked at the rapidly running drug production lines and asked:
"Lao Shen, Xiao Lin, how many pills can your production line produce in a day?"
Shen Guoming introduced:
"The production line in front of us can produce 100,000 tablets a day. We have 20 such production lines in operation. At our current pricing, a patient needs 120 tablets for a full course of treatment, priced at $1,000."
Minister Li was even more surprised when he took a bottle of medicine from the production line:
"Oh my god, this bottle of medicine is worth over a hundred dollars? Converted into RMB, that's a worker's annual salary? A course of treatment requires six bottles of medicine, and six years of starvation. Who can afford that?"
Lin Sanqi explained with a smile:
"The price will definitely not be the same domestically or internationally. This was my original promise. I sell a bottle of medicine overseas for $170. Minister Li, please don't think it's too expensive. Do you know how much this bottle costs when sold to a hospital?"
1,700 US dollars is about 4,500 yuan when converted into RMB.”
"4,500 yuan? Just for this bottle of medicine?"
The old lady was so frightened that she couldn't even close her mouth.
"My goodness, foreign money is really worthless! My annual salary is less than 4,500 yuan. How can that be possible? Whether it's $170 or $1,700, the price is too high. We absolutely can't charge that much in China."
Lin Sanqi laughed and explained:
"Hey, Minister Li, don't worry. Our domestic pricing is 60 RMB per course of treatment, which is 10 RMB per month. Isn't that low enough?"
Minister Li was silent for a long time before he spoke:
"10 yuan a month is still too expensive, especially for farmers. We can't afford it. Xiaolin, can you make it cheaper?"
Lin Sanqi smiled bitterly and said:
"Minister Li, we're already selling this at a loss for 10 yuan. Look at how big our factory is, with tens of thousands of people employed. How much is the labor cost alone? Besides, drug production isn't like grinding tofu; you can just make a few beans.
Look over there, I also built a raw material factory, and the foundation of the raw material factory is built on the chemical plant, so this investment alone has drained all our family assets, and I even owe the bank a lot of debt."
Lin Sanqi must cry poor and must not give people the impression that he is a wealthy man, otherwise there will be endless troubles.
As I said, a country is made up of individuals. Some are selfless, while others are full of evil intentions. Lin Sanqi does not want Bao'an County to be slaughtered like a fat sheep and become a cash cow for some people.
Especially when there is only one big fat sheep in the whole country.
Minister Li was a little embarrassed:
“I anticipated your difficulties. Even the government can’t afford the investment in such a large pharmaceutical factory, let alone a private enterprise.
But the difficulties at home are real. Xiaolin, as a minister, I hope everyone can get medical treatment and medicine, and everyone can enjoy the right to health and medical care. Isn't this also your goal in running this pharmaceutical factory?
Lin Sanqi knew that the old lady's starting point was definitely good, but unfortunately her thinking was a little misguided.
"Minister Li, I understand what you mean. Your idea is good. You just want everyone to have money to treat tuberculosis.
But have you ever thought about this: eradicating tuberculosis and ensuring that everyone has access to medicine is not the responsibility of a single company or individual, but the government.
The government collects taxes and takes money from the people, so it must use it for the people. It has the obligation and responsibility to take responsibility for the health of all citizens, so you have to change your thinking.
If the ministry intends to ensure that all citizens have access to anti-TB drugs, then the best approach would be for the government to purchase them from our pharmaceutical companies and then distribute them free of charge to TB patients. This is the right approach."
Upon hearing this, Minister Li slapped Lin Sanqi on the back:
"You bastard, I'm telling you about my difficulties, and you're putting labels on me. You're really becoming more and more like a capitalist. Do I need you to tell me I have money? I would have spent it on purchasing a long time ago."
Lin Sanqi sighed and said:
"Minister Li, don't be too hasty. Take your time. Our Bao'an County Pharmaceutical Factory has just opened and we really can't bear the burden that we shouldn't bear. We can't transfer the government's burden to our company alone. If we do that, our company will collapse.
But don't worry, it is definitely possible to ensure that every citizen in the country can have access to free anti-tuberculosis drugs. You have to give me at least five years to complete the initial capital accumulation.
Instead of making a little money at the beginning and then immediately killing the goose that lays the golden eggs, that would be too short-sighted.”
Shen Guoming also chimed in:
"In fact, there is another way. We can keep $100 million of the $300 million we handed over and exchange it all for anti-tuberculosis drugs. This way, we can quickly solve the problem of free distribution of anti-tuberculosis drugs in the country."
Minister Li's eyes lit up when he heard this:
"Yes, Old Shen, you're really smart. One hundred million dollars should be enough. But can your production keep up?"
Shen Guoming pointed to the factory area and said:
"We currently have 20 workshops, one of which is set up for domestic use, and all the ethylpyridamole tablets produced are supplied domestically.
Currently, only the Capital Infectious Disease Hospital in the country is carrying out anti-tuberculosis treatment, so the drug supply for one workshop is more than enough.
In the future, as anti-tuberculosis drugs are promoted in various provinces and cities across China, the second and third phases of the Bao'an County Pharmaceutical Factory will also follow suit, and no one will be short of pyridoxine tablets, and China will not be short of them."
The old lady nodded with satisfaction, but she was still a little unwilling:
"Old Shen, Xiaolin, having only one infectious disease hospital in the country is too little. Even if we can't have one in every county, at least there should be one in every region, right?"
Lin Sanqi gave the old lady a thumbs up, thinking that she had a long-term vision and attached great importance to the prevention and control of infectious diseases.
Shen Guoming reminded:
"Minister Li, the main problem right now is that there are too few professional doctors. Our medical education is seriously lagging behind."
In fact, it is more than just a lag. The medical students who have been trained with great difficulty can only be assigned to rural areas due to the city's population reduction plan, or simply return to their hometowns to fend for themselves.
On the one hand, medical students have difficulty finding jobs, and on the other hand, patients lack doctors to treat their illnesses. Ultimately, the main contradiction is that there are too few hospitals.
Minister Li asked pointedly:
"Epyridamole tablets are a new drug to foreign countries. Why can foreign hospitals use them directly in clinical practice after obtaining the drug?"
Lin Sanqi replied:
"That's because Vitt Pharmaceuticals and Anthony Pharmaceuticals arranged for people to provide training to doctors in various hospitals in advance. They also printed and distributed the 'Pulmonary Tuberculosis Clinical Guidelines' to all major hospitals.
This is equivalent to foreign doctors fully understanding the usage and dosage of pyridoxine tablets before the drug arrives, as well as the diagnostic criteria and treatment methods, so they can start using it right away."
Minister Li was silent as he walked. After a long while, he spoke weakly:
"Xiao Lin, I'm not trying to trick you, but could you please help train doctors back home? I'll coordinate the construction or renovation of the remaining hospitals. Let's work together to expand tuberculosis treatment nationwide as quickly as possible."
Lin Sanqi wanted to refuse.
Wow, for national doctor training, it won’t be possible to just hold a DingTalk meeting or a remote video lecture in a few decades.
Even if this kind of training is short-term, it will take at least 2 months.
There are more than 300 prefecture-level cities in the country. Even if we count 10 doctors, 10 nurses, and 10 medical technicians (laboratory department + imaging department) in a city, the total number is more than 10,000.
The cost of study materials, food, drink, and shelter for these more than 10,000 people is definitely not a small amount.
Lin Sanqi's thinking is actually very fixed. He believes that enterprises are enterprises, the government is the government, and private power and public power must be strictly distinguished.
But he forgot that this was the 1960s, and everything in this country belonged to the collective and was subject to distribution.
"Minister Li, you can't..."
"Okay!" Shen Guoming agreed firmly.
Lin Sanqi looked at Shen Guoming blankly, thinking, "Old man, are you crazy? How dare you agree to such a thing?"
We run a business that produces medicines, not a health training school. (End of this chapter)
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