Zhu Rongji

Zhu was born in Changsha, capital of the Hunan province, in China. He joined the Communist Party of China in October, 1949. In 1951, he graduated from Qinghua University, majoring in electrical engineering.

Having criticized Mao's "irrational high growth" policies, Zhu was labeled a "Rightist" in 1958 and sent to work as a teacher at a cadre school. Rehabilitated in 1962, he worked as an engineer for the National Economy Bureau of the State Planning Commission until 1969. In 1970 during the Cultural Revolution, Zhu was purged again and underwent "reeducation" at a May Seventh Cadre School until 1975.

He was politically rehabilitated by Deng Xiaoping, on the strength of his forward-thinking and bold economic ideas, when the latter began his reform program in 1978 and was looking for like-minded economic advisors. Zhu went to work for the State Economic Commission (SEC) as division chief of the Bureau of Fuel and Power Industry and deputy director of the Comprehensive Bureau from 1979 to 1982.

He was Mayor of Shanghai from 1989 to 1991.

He was nominated as Premier by President Jiang Zemin and confirmed by the Ninth National People's Congress (NPC) on March 17, 1998. His term ended in March 2003, and he was respected widely by the Chinese people as one of the best premiers.