Wu Yi

Wu Yi 吴仪
Wu Yi with US Secretary of State Colin Powell.
First Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China Acting
In office 2 June 2007 – 17 March 2008
Premier	Wen Jiabao
Preceded by	Huang Ju
Succeeded by	Li Keqiang
Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China
In office 15 March 2003 – 2 June 2007 Serving with Zeng Peiyan Hui Liangyu
Premier	Wen Jiabao
Preceded by	Qian Qichen Wu Bangguo Wen Jiabao
Succeeded by	Zeng Peiyan Hui Liangyu
Personal details
Born	November 1938 (age 76) Wuhan, Republic of China
Political party	Communist Party
Alma mater	China University of Petroleum

Wu Yi (born November 1938 in Wuhan, Hubei, China) was one of four Vice Premiers of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, overseeing the country's economy until March 2008. Known as the "iron lady", Wu is one of the toughest negotiators in China's government.

Biography

In April 1962, she joined the Communist Party of China. In August of the same year, she graduated from the Petroleum Refinery department at the Beijing Petroleum Institute, with a degree in petroleum engineering. She spent much of her career as a petroleum technician, eventually becoming deputy manager at the Beijing Dongfang Hong refinery, and assistant manager and party secretary at the Beijing Yanshan Petrochemical Corporation.

She was elected deputy mayor of Beijing in 1988, and held that office until 1991. Following the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, she persuaded coal workers threatening to go on strike to continue working after some of their colleagues had been killed. From 1991 until 1998, she held successively the posts of Deputy Minister of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade, Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation, and member of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. A protégé of Zhu Rongji, she became a state councillor in 1998, and was appointed Vice Premier of the State Council in March 2003. She was the first woman to hold the position since economic and political reforms in 1978, and the most powerful woman in Chinese politics since Jiang Qing. She helped negotiate the PRC's entry into the World Trade Organization and reorganised the customs service after U.S. complaints over the widespread violation of intellectual property rights.

During the SARS crisis, she replaced Zhang Wenkang, who had been fired for his coverup of the crisis, as health minister and headed a committee to solve the crisis. She was called the "Goddess of Transparency" by Time magazine for her leadership during the SARS crisis and named one of Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2004. In the middle of the SARS endemic, Wu fiercely snubbed the advocation for Republic of China's WHO participation during the WHO general assembly. One video clip aired widely in Taiwan showed Wu rebuffing the question of Taiwan's representation during an interview by a Taiwanese reporter. After the assembly, a Taiwanese reporter asked the Chinese delegation if they knew what the needs were of the 23 million citizens of Taiwan. Surprisingly, an official beside Wu Yi replied, "Who cares about you people!" to the Taiwanese reporter.

Called by Chinese media as the "Iron Lady of China", Wu is regarded as a firm and direct woman who, unlike her colleagues, has not dyed her graying hair black. Since becoming Vice Premier, Wu has been an able diplomat in signing agreements with neighboring Asian countries. She also makes frequent inspection visits to many southern Chinese regions. Since the death of Huang Ju, the senior Vice Premier, Wu has taken on the portfolio of overseeing financial work.

Vice Premier Wu announced at the end of 2007 that she would retire in March 2008. During the last few months of her tenure she was involved in negotiations with U.S. toy giant Mattel over toy lead content that brought significant woe to the reputation of Chinese products. At a meeting held with Chinese business leaders in early 2008 Wu revealed that her personal salary totaled RMB 120,000, or 17,582.40 U.S. dollars per year, and told the business leaders that they should only "take money from the right places".

Trivia

Forbes magazine considered her the second most powerful woman in the world in 2004, 2005 and 2007 and the third most powerful in 2006.^[1]

References

External links

• Wu Yi biography at China Vitae

Vice Premiers of the People's Republic of China Provisional Cabinet Dong Biwu Chen Yun Guo Moruo Huang Yanpei Deng Xiaoping 1st Cabinet Chen Yun Lin Biao Peng Dehuai Deng Xiaoping Deng Zihui He Long Chen Yi Ulanhu Li Fuchun Li Xiannian 2nd Cabinet Chen Yun Lin Biao Peng Dehuai Deng Xiaoping Deng Zihui He Long Chen Yi Ulanhu Li Fuchun Li Xiannian Nie Rongzhen Bo Yibo Tan Zhenlin Lu Dingyi Luo Ruiqing Xi Zhongxun 3rd Cabinet (I) Lin Biao Chen Yun Deng Xiaoping He Long Chen Yi Ke Qingshi Ulanhu Li Fuchun Li Xiannian Tan Zhenlin Nie Rongzhen Bo Yibo Lu Dingyi Luo Ruiqing Tao Zhu Xie Fuzhi 3rd Cabinet (II) Deng Xiaoping Chen Yun He Long Chen Yi Ke Qingshi Ulanhu Li Fuchun Li Xiannian Tan Zhenlin Nie Rongzhen Bo Yibo Lu Dingyi Luo Ruiqing Tao Zhu Xie Fuzhi 4th Cabinet Deng Xiaoping Zhang Chunqiao Li Xiannian Chen Xilian Ji Dengkui Hua Guofeng Chen Yonggui Wu Guixian Wang Zhen Yu Qiuli Gu Mu Sun Jian 5th Cabinet (I) Deng Xiaoping Li Xiannian Xu Xiangqian Ji Dengkui Yu Qiuli Chen Xilian Geng Biao Chen Yonggui Fang Yi Wang Zhen Gu Mu Kang Shi'en Chen Muhua 5th Cabinet (II) Wan Li Li Xiannian Xu Xiangqian Ji Dengkui Yu Qiuli Chen Xilian Geng Biao Chen Yonggui Fang Yi Wang Zhen Gu Mu Kang Shi'en Chen Muhua Bo Yibo 6th Cabinet Wan Li Yao Yilin Li Peng Tian Jiyun Qiao Shi 7th Cabinet Yao Yilin Tian Jiyun Wu Xueqian Zou Jiahua Zhu Rongji 8th Cabinet Zhu Rongji Zou Jiahua Qian Qichen Li Lanqing Wu Bangguo Jiang Chunyun 9th Cabinet Li Lanqing Qian Qichen Wu Bangguo Wen Jiabao 10th Cabinet Huang Ju Wu Yi Zeng Peiyan Hui Liangyu 11th Cabinet Li Keqiang Hui Liangyu Zhang Dejiang Wang Qishan 12th Cabinet Zhang Gaoli Liu Yandong Wang Yang Ma Kai List of Vice premiers of the People's Republic of China