Wu Yi (born November 1938) is a retired Chinese politician who served as a Vice Premier of China between 2003 and 2008. She was one of the country's most visible leaders during the first decade of the 21st century, best known for taking on the role of Minister of Health from April 2003 during the SARS outbreak, shortly after becoming vice premier. She was also a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party. She has since retired and left public life. She was commonly referred to as the "iron lady" by Chinese media, and was known to be a tough negotiator internationally. Forbes magazine ranked her the world's second-most powerful woman in 2004, 2005, and 2007.

Early life

Wu was born in November 1938 to an ordinary intellectual family based in Wuhan, but she traces her ancestry to nearby Huangmei County in Hubei province. She was the younger of two children. Her parents died while she was young, so she was brought up by her brother, who was eight years her senior. In April 1962, she joined the Chinese Communist Party. 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 headed a committee to solve the crisis. Also in 2007, a coordination committee was formed to oversee quality control of consumer goods as well as food safety, and Wu was named its leader. There was speculation that Wu may continue to serve despite having reached the informal retirement age of 68.

At the 17th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, Wu was not named to the new Politburo. A month later, answering speculation about her political future at a U.S.-China Chamber of Commerce meeting, Wu said that she intends to "retire completely" (i.e., luotui), and said that she will not take on any office, whether "official, semi-official, or with civic organizations." She also remarked that she wanted everyone to simply forget about her. During the last few months of her tenure she was involved in negotiations with U.S. toy giant Mattel over toy lead content that damaged the reputation of Chinese-made products. At a meeting held with Chinese business leaders in early 2008 Wu revealed that her personal salary totaled 120,000 yuan, or approximately $17,600 per year at the time, and told the business leaders that they should only "take money from the right places".

Wu retired from politics in March 2008 after she stepped down as Vice Premier.

Public image and personal life

Called by Chinese media as the "Iron Lady of China", Wu was regarded as a firm and direct woman who, unlike her mostly male colleagues, chose not to dye her graying hair black. Wu did not marry all her life. When questioned about this, Wu said, "it's not that I have always wanted to be alone, it's just that life has never given me the opportunity [for romance]; no one has ever entered my life in this way."

References

  • Wu Yi biography at China Vitae