Zhu Rongji
On 17 March 1998, a meeting of the Ninth National People's Congress decided that Zhu Rongji was the Premier of the State Council. Zhu Rongji, a man of resolve and keen intellect, was born in Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province. He joined the Communist Party of China in October 1949. After graduation from the prestigious Tsinghua University in Beijing, where he majored in electrical engineering, he served as deputy head of the production planning officeof the Northeast China Ministry of Industries. He then worked in the StatePlanning Commission and the State Economic Commission for years, wherehe was acknowledged as an official who "knows economics."
From 1952 to 1958, Zhu worked in the State Planning Commission as group head, deputy director of the minister's office, and deputy section chief. From 1958 to 1969, Zhu continued to work in the State Planning Commission, as a teacher at a cadre school and an engineer.
In 1968, Hu Jintao escaped the worst of the Cultural Revolution by volunteering to "go down" to Gansu province, where he served on construction teams. Hu was promoted rapidly through the ranks until he came to the attention of party secretary Song Ping. Hu also met other members of Song ping's "Gansu faction," including Premier Zhu Rongji's successor as Premier, Wen Jiabao. There was an "Anhui angle" to the Hu relationship with Jiang (and Zhu Rongji). Hu, Jiang and Zhu commonly -- and publicly -- joked that they were an "Anhui trio." Hu's family was from the southern city of Jixi, Zhu's was originally from northern Anhui, while Jiang's grandparents reportedly migrated to Yangzhou (Jiangsu province) from eastern Anhui. From 1970 to 1975, Zhu was transferred to work at a "May Seventh Cadre School", a kind of farm for reeducation during the "cultural revolution" (1966-1976).
From 1975 to 1979, Zhu served as deputy chief engineer of a company run by the Pipeline Bureau of the Ministry of the Petroleum Industry and director of the Industrial Economics Institute under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. From 1979 to 1982, he worked for the State Economic Commission as division chief and bureau deputy director. He was appointed member of the State Economic Commission in 1982 and vice-minister in charge of the commission in 1983, a post he held until 1987, when he was appointed mayor of Shanghai.
In 1987, Zhu was appointed mayor of Shanghai,China's largest industrial and financial city. His three years in Shanghai saw tremendous changes in the development and opening-up of Pudong, a Singapore-size area wedged between Shanghai proper and the East China Sea, and the city's telecom, urban construction and transport sectors. He won popular respect and acclaim for these achievements. For these he won confidence insideand outside the Party and acclaim from the common people.
In 1991, Zhu became vice-premier of the State Council and director of the State Council Production Office. He focused his attention on tackling tough economic problems in industry, agriculture and finance. Soon after he came to Beijing from Shanghai, Zhu launched a drive to disentangle the "debt chains" of state enterprises; he took the lead in eliminating IOUs in state grain purchasing, thus benefiting farmers. He served concurrently as governor of the central bank to put the financial system back on its feet. Deng Xiaoping once said that Zhu "has his own views, dares to make decisions and knows economics."
The year 1992 saw runaway investment in fixed assets, an excessive money supply, soaring prices and chaotic financial market. With support from Jiang Zemin and Li Peng, Zhu, as vice-premier and head of the State Council Economic and Trade Office, instituted a series of tough macroeconomic control measures. He began by bringing the runaway money supply under control, laying the foundation for holding down prices. However, Zhu did not advocate overall entrenchment. While he axed low-tech duplicate projects and sectors that would result in "a bubble economy" Zhu backed projects in transport, energy, agriculture and sectors that had promising prospects as new areas of economic growth. Thanks to these measures, the Chinese economy has not only avoided violent fluctuations but has also maintained healthy development.
Zhu Rongji then turned his attention to reforming state enterprises. His concern was also focused on strengthening agriculture as the country's economic base and continuing a moderately tight monetary policy. He faced both opportunities and challenges, observers note. and he has ample room to display his talents.
He upheld the principle of "strict administration". He deported himself in a calm and unhurried manner, but he acted quickly and was decisive in handling affairs. He cannot tolerate a dilatory style of work. "My criticism is sometimes too severe and that is not good," he once said. "But why do you have to wait until your leader flies into a rage before starting to do your work? It's not that you can't do it, rather that you won't do it." Zhu also showed his emotional side sometimes. On the 80th anniversary of the founding of Tsinghua University, his Alma Mater, Zhu defied fatigue from a long European visit and rushed to the school to offer his greetings.
Between 1993 and 1995, Zhu served as a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, vice-premier of the State Council and concurrently governor of the People's Bank of china. Since 1995, he has kept the positions of Standing Committee member and vice-premier. In September 1997, he was re-elected member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.
Zhu Rongji was elected as the fifth premier of the People's Republic of China. Zhu was well-versed in management of the economy. He is acknowledged as an able economic administrator and is renowned for his pragmatic work style. Zhu was nominated as premier of the State Council by President Jiang Zemin. The nomination was confirmed on March 17 by the Ninth National People's Congress (NPC) at its first session in Beijing. Four years of successful macroeconomic controls, with the curbing of inflation as their primary task, had cooled down the overheated Chinese economy enabling it to achieve a "soft landing". With these achievements to his credit, Zhu became premier of the State Council, the Chinese cabinet.
By 2007, Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang were the only two members of the Party's most powerful body, the Politburo Standing Committee (PBSC) eligible for reelection in 2012. Both men are members of the "fifth generation" of leadership and, in a rare move, were catapulted to the PBSC without having previously served in the Politburo. Only Hu Jintao himself and Zhu Rongji had achieved this feat since the reform era launched by former supreme leader Deng Xiaoping.
In the latest iteration of Wen's alleged economic mismanagement making the rounds of the rumor mill, in 2009 Wen was said to have aroused the ire of his mentor and political ally, former Premier Zhu Rongji. Many, including an agitated Zhu Rongji, viewed Wen as being behind the curve on economic issues and slow to respond to problems. Wen was too worried about checking inflation in early 2008, going "too far" to slow growth, only to then respond too slowly to the global financial crisis that became apparent later in 2008. Zhu Rongji was not a great premier, as Zhu had made economic blunders, having promoted especially bad policies on grain and farm incomes.
Most party elders exercised influence indirectly through their proteges on the Politburo. For instance, PBSC member Luo Gan was Li Peng's protigi, Wen Jiabao was Zhu Rongji's, and Wu Guanzheng was Qiao Shi's. Many of the elders - such as Li Peng, Zhu Rongji, and Qiao Shi - do not get along well. Most party elders do not do much of anything other than enjoy their retirement. Zhu Rongji "talks a lot" to people in Party circles and media had previously publicized Li Ruihuan's charitable activity and Li Peng's books. Former Premier Zhu Rongji spent his time playing the erhu and singing Chinese opera. Former Vice Premier Li Lanqing teaches music. One of the more active elders appears to be departing Vice President Zeng Qinghong who recently spent a month relaxing in Suzhou. Bao added that elders must receive central government permission before they are allowed to publish any books.
Zhu has a good command of English. He is rarely seen speaking from a script. His eloquent speech has always retained the attention of his listeners. Zhu is also a Peking Opera fan. His wife, Lao An, was once vice-chairman of the board of directors of China International Engineering and Consulting Corp. She and Zhu attended the same school twice, the Hunan First Provincial Middle School and Tsinghua University. They have a son and a daughter. Li Xiaolin, daughter of the respected ex-premier Zhu Rongji, is now the assistant president of the Bank of China (Hong Kong). Zhu, once a philosophy and politic science student, started a career in finance under the influence of her father, who was the director with School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University.
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