The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology website recently announced that 14 auto companies will be stopped from production qualifications, which is commonly known as "zombie car enterprises" delisting. At the previous press conference of the State Council, the Minister of Industry and Information Technology, Miao Wei, said that this is to establish a smooth exit mechanism for the so-called "zombie car enterprises", to break the life-long system of the qualification of automobile production enterprises, and to establish a presence and The dynamic management mechanism of the survival of the fittest.
What kind of business is a "zombie company"? Why is the exit mechanism difficult to produce? How to coordinate the elimination of backward production capacity and the relationship of “zombie enterprise†withdrawal? What are the specific arrangements for the next step? The "Economic Daily" reporter interviewed Feng Fei, deputy director of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Reporter: Why did you propose to withdraw from the "zombie enterprise" at this time? What is the background of existence?
Feng Fei: Regarding the "zombie enterprise", there is still no consensus. I understand that "zombie enterprise" refers to a company that has long-term losses and has no hope of losing losses but is difficult to withdraw smoothly. At present, the "zombie enterprise" problem is highlighted, which is related to the three major backgrounds of current economic development.
First, China's economic development has entered a new normal, the downward pressure on the economy has increased, and the external business environment of enterprises has become more severe. Some enterprises with relatively backward technology and management are difficult to adapt to the new situation, and adjustments and upgrades cannot keep up with market changes and are in trouble.
Second, some industries have a serious overcapacity, resulting in a continuous decline in product prices, a decline in corporate profits, and some industries even falling into losses across the industry, making business operations more difficult. For example, in the third quarter of this year, the steel industry's sales profit margin was only 0.05%, the total profit decreased by 97.5%, and the corporate loss was close to 50%.
Third, the market mechanism is not perfect, and there are still some institutional and institutional obstacles, which makes it difficult for “zombie enterprises†to smoothly withdraw according to market rules.
Reporter: From the specific performance, what harm does the “zombie enterprise†currently bring to China’s economic development?
Feng Fei: The existence of a large number of "zombie enterprises" has hindered China's economic transformation and upgrading and industrial restructuring, and has also increased macroeconomic operational risks.
First, it occupies a large amount of resources, hinders the transformation and upgrading, and effectively resolves the contradiction of excessive excess capacity. The “zombie enterprise†has low economic benefits, but it occupies a large amount of land, capital, energy, labor and other resources, which causes resources to flow to higher-income sectors, resulting in serious waste of resources. It can be said that the "zombie enterprise" does not withdraw, and the contradiction of overcapacity cannot be fundamentally resolved. Structural adjustment and transformation and upgrading will be difficult to achieve.
Second, it has damaged the market mechanism of survival of the fittest. In some respects, due to social stability and other considerations, in order to maintain the existence of "zombie enterprises", blood transfusions for "zombie enterprises" continue to lead to unfair competition, and even bad money may be used to drive out good money.
Third, it may cause financial risks. “Zombie companies†carry a large amount of debts. If they cannot be disposed of in time, they will lead to an increase in bad credit assets of banks. In addition, the inter-enterprise debt chain is complicated and the problems are serious, which may lead to systemic risks. To this end, the Party Central Committee and the State Council have attached great importance to this and demanded that the "zombie enterprises" be handled promptly.
Reporter: Since the withdrawal of "zombie enterprises" is very urgent, what is the difficulty of withdrawing all the time? Why is the exit mechanism difficult to establish?
Feng Fei: "Zombie enterprises" can be disposed of through market-oriented mergers and acquisitions and legal bankruptcy. According to law, bankruptcy is divided into three specific forms: reorganization, reconciliation and bankruptcy liquidation.
Dealing with “zombie companies†requires more restructuring, less bankruptcy, and ensuring social stability. In the above-mentioned several disposal methods, China has considered the system design, but in the actual operation process, it faces some difficulties and problems, and has not yet formed a perfect exit mechanism.
First, in the process of mergers and acquisitions and bankruptcy, there were problems such as difficulty in resettlement of workers, heavy debt burden, and many problems left over from history. The cost of mergers and acquisitions and bankruptcy was increased, which hindered the exit of “zombie enterprisesâ€.
Second, some local governments, in view of ensuring employment and ensuring stability, banks and other creditors are worried that bankruptcy will lead to bad debts and disrupt the normal bankruptcy of enterprises.
Third, China's "Bankruptcy Law" has adapted to the development of the market economy. Although it has been revised and improved several times, there are still some provisions that are more principles and need to be further clarified and refined.
Fourth, in the context of increasing economic downward pressure, many industries are not expected to be uncertain, and corporate financing is difficult, resulting in insufficient willingness for enterprises to implement mergers and acquisitions.
In addition, under the current macro background, the possibility and consequences of the risk of corporate bankruptcy withdrawal are magnified, causing all sectors of society to be cautious about bankruptcy and restructuring.
Reporter: What considerations will be made by relevant departments for asset disposal and personnel resettlement during the exit process of “zombie enterprises�
Feng Fei: Personnel placement and asset disposal are the key to solving the problem of “zombie enterprise†exit.
Regarding the resettlement of personnel, this is the responsibility of the government. Governments at all levels must establish a social fund-raising policy, increase capital investment, improve the resettlement policies of laid-off workers, ensure the basic living security of laid-off workers, strengthen the skills training for transfer workers, and provide necessary workers for laid-off workers. Entrepreneurial support enables unemployed people to re-employ.
Regarding the disposal of assets, it is necessary to adopt more market methods, for example, to support commercial banks to speed up the disposal of non-performing loans and bad debts. Financial asset management companies should actively participate in the handling of mergers and acquisitions and the debts and debts of bankrupt enterprises in accordance with the principle of marketization. Encourage creditors and debtors to communicate and negotiate, carry out debt restructuring, and re-sign debt agreements through debt-to-equity swaps, debt transfer, and debt cancellation to reduce the debt burden of mergers and acquisitions and bankruptcy.
Reporter: How to coordinate the elimination of backward production capacity and the withdrawal of “zombie enterprises�
Feng Fei: These two concepts are both different and related. Outdated production capacity and “zombie companies†all allocate resources in inefficient sectors and should withdraw from the market.
The outstanding features of backward production capacity are serious pollution of the environment, waste of resources, low quality, and insecure production.
The outstanding characteristics of "zombie enterprises" are low competitiveness, both the reasons for the backwardness of technological equipment, as well as the backward management, heavy debts and heavy social burdens.
In the process of disposing of “zombie enterprisesâ€, the backward production capacity must be resolutely eliminated; those that are not backward production capacity, or through measures such as divestiture, improved management, debt restructuring, and burden reduction, can be “rebirthed†or passed through the country. Give appropriate guidance policies and gradually withdraw from the market.
In the current situation of severe overcapacity, measures should be taken to support “zombie enterprises†and their production capacity to exit the market and alleviate the contradiction of overcapacity. In the long run, the exit mechanism of enterprises should be established and improved so that “zombie enterprises†can withdraw in time to fundamentally solve the problems of backward production capacity and overcapacity.
Reporter: According to the deployment requirements of the State Council, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology should study the policy measures for the exit of “zombie enterprisesâ€. What work plans and arrangements are there?
Feng Fei: Regarding the withdrawal of “zombie enterprisesâ€, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will strengthen investigation and research, find out the basic situation, understand the difficulties and major problems faced by the “zombie enterprisesâ€, and study and dispose of the “zombie enterprises†policy measures with relevant departments to further optimize Market environment, rule of law environment and policy environment, improve the exit mechanism of “zombie enterprisesâ€.
The "zombie enterprise" withdrawal must correctly handle the relationship between the government and the market, and give full play to the role of the market mechanism. The government mainly gives necessary support in personnel resettlement, not to save the enterprise, but to let it smoothly withdraw as soon as possible. At the same time, we must adhere to more mergers and losses, and more through mergers and acquisitions, so that "zombie enterprises" will withdraw, properly resettle workers, reduce the impact on society, reduce economic and social risks, and improve the quality and efficiency of economic development.
REGULATORS
You must be able to reduce the high-pressure gas in a cylinder to a working pressure before you can use it. This pressure reduction is done by a Regulator or reducing valve. The one basic job of all regulators is to take the high-pressure gas from the cylinder and reduce it to a level that can be safely used. Not only do they control the pressure but they also control the flow (volume of gas per hour).
Regulators come in all sizes and types. Some are designed for high-pressure oxygen cylinders (2,200 psig), while others are designed for low-pressure gases, such as natural gas (5 psig). Some gases like nitrous oxide or carbon dioxide freeze when their pressure is reduced so they require electrically heated regulators.
Most regulators have two gauges: one indicates the cylinder pressure when the valve is opened and the other indicates the pressure of the gas coming out of the regulator. You must open the regulator before you get a reading on the second gauge. This is the delivery pres-sure of the gas, and you must set the pressure that you need for your particular job.
The pressures that you read on regulator gauges is called gauge pressure. If you are using pounds per square inch, it should be written as psig (this acronym means pounds per square inch gauge). When the gauge on a cylinder reads zero, this does not mean that the cylinder is empty. In actuality, the cylinder is still full of gas, but the pressure is equal to the surrounding atmospheric pressure. Remember: no gas cylinder is empty unless it has been pumped out by a vacuum pump.
There are two types of regulators that control the flow of gas from a cylinder. These are either single-stage or double-stage regulators.
Single-Stage Regulators
Regulators are used on both high- and low-pressure systems. Figure 4-8 shows two SINGLE-STAGE regu-lators: one for acetylene and one for oxygen. The regulator mechanism consists of a nozzle through which the gases pass, a valve seat to close off the nozzle, a diaphragm, and balancing springs. These mechanisms are all enclosed in a suitable housing. Fuel-gas regulators and oxygen regulators are basically the same design. The difference being those designed for fuel gases are not made to withstand the high pressures that oxygen regulators are subjected to.
Figure 4-8.-Single-stage regulators.
In the oxygen regulator, the oxygen enters through the high-pressure inlet connection and passes through a glass wool falter that removes dust and dirt. Turning the adjusting screw IN (clockwise) allows the oxygen to pass from the high-pressure chamber to the low-pressure chamber of the regulator, through the regulator outlet, and through the hose to the torch. Turning the adjusting screw further clockwise increases the working pressure; turning it counterclockwise decreases the working pressure.
The high-Pressure Gauge on an oxygen regulator is graduated from 0 to 3,000 psig and from 0 to 220 in cubic feet. This allows readings of the gauge to deter-mine cylinder pressure and cubic content. Gauges are calibrated to read correctly at 70°F. The working pres-sure gauge may be graduated in [psig" from 0 to 150, 0 to 200, or from 0 to 400, depending upon the type of regulator used. For example, on regulators designed for heavy cutting, the working pressure gauge is graduated from 0 to 400.
The major disadvantage of single-stage regulators is that the working gas pressure you set will decrease as the cylinder pressure decreases; therefore, you must constantly monitor and reset the regulator if you require a fixed pressure and flow rate. Keeping the gas pressure and flow rate constant is too much to expect from a regulator that has to reduce the pressure of a full cylinder from 2,200 psig to 5 psig. This is where double-stage regulators solve the problem.
Double-Stage Regulators
The double-stage regulator is similar in principle to the one-stage regulator. The main difference being that the total pressure drop takes place in two stages instead of one. In the high-pressure stage, the cylinder pressure is reduced to an intermediate pressure that was predetermined by the manufacturer. In the low-pressure stage, the pressure is again reduced from the intermediate pressure to the working pressure you have chosen. A typical double-stage regulator is shown in figure 4-9.
Figure 4-9.-Double-stage regulator.
Problems and Safety
Regulators are precise and complicated pieces of equipment. Carelessness can do more to ruin a regulator than any other gas-using equipment. One can easily damage a regulator by simply forgetting to wipe clean the cylinder, regulator, or hose connections. When you open a high-pressure cylinder, the gas can rush into the regulator at the speed of sound. If there is any dirt present in the connections, it will be blasted into the precision-fitted valve seats, causing them to leak This results in a condition that is known as creep. Creep occurs when you shut of the regulator but not the cylinder and gas pressure is still being delivered to the low-pressure side.
Regulators are built with a minimum of two relief devices that protect you and the equipment in the case of regulator creep or high-pressure gas being released into the regulator all at once. All regulator gauges have blowout backs that release the pressure from the back of the gauge before the gauge glass explodes. Nowadays, most manufacturers use shatterproof plastic instead of glass.
The regulator body is also protected by safety devices. Blowout disks or spring-loaded relief valves are the two most common types of devices used. When a blowout disk ruptures, it sounds like a cannon. Spring-loaded relief valves usually make howling or shrieking like noises. In either case, your first action, after you recover from your initial fright, should be to turn off the cylinder valve. Remove the regulator and tag it for repair or disposal.
When opening a gas cylinder, you should just [crack" the valve a little. This should be done before attaching the regulator and every time thereafter. By opening the cylinder before connecting the regulator, you blow out any dirt or other foreign material that might be in the cylinder nozzle. Also, there is the possibility of a regulator exploding if the cylinder valve is opened rapidly.
WARNING
Oil or other petroleum products must never be used around oxygen regulators because these products will either cause a regulator explosion or fire
Regulator
Voltage Regulator,High Pressure Regulator,Gas Regulator
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