RESTRICTED
Li Xu'e Ye Rutang
Lu Dong Wang Wei
• • •
58
•
47
72 72
·
Astronautics
Urban and Rural Construction
and Environmental Protection
State Economic Commission
State Family Planning Commission
In most cases they are at or approaching the theoretical age limit of 65 for Ministers and in some cases the Ministries concerned do have Vice-Ministers as representatives on the Central Committee. The main exception is Ye Rutang of MURCEP who is age 47. One of the more interesting cases is that of the Ministry of Public Security. The present Minister Wang Fang was only appointed this year to take over from Ruan Chongwu who had not made a success of his tenure. Ruan Chongwu has retained his membership of the Central Committee (he is now back in more congenial surroundings as a Vice-Minister of the State Science and Technology Commission). By contrast Wang Fang lost his seat on the Central Committee. There would appear to be further changes in store in the leadership of that particular Ministry. If the Vice-Ministers holding Central Committee membership are directly promoted the likely new Ministers are
4.
Jiang Xiesheng
Cai Chang
•
•
Hu Ping, or
Zhu Rongji
Aeronautics Justice
Economic Commission
Chen Muhua, although she retained her membership of the Central Committee, was not re-elected to the Politburo. What this means for her post in the People's Bank of China is not entirely clear. The financial administration of China has not been one of the year's success stories, and she too is touching on the Ministerial age limit. On the other hand she is a seasoned survivor, and it would be unwise to write her off entirely. Interestingly her deputy, Liu Hongru, also lost
his alternate membership of the Central Committee.
5.
One group to do surprisingly well was the petro-chemical industry with four people from that sector having alternate membership (Wu Yi, Secretary of the Yanshan Petro-Chemical works, Gu Zhuanxun, Head of the Shanghai Petro-Chemical Plant, Wang Zhiwu, Head of the Daqing Oilfield and Zhang Wanxin, General Manager of the China National Petro-Chemical Corporation). Generally workers and managers of large industrial plants have virtually disappeared from the Central Committee (including Li Ming, Director of the Baoshan Iron and Steel Complex).
6.
Zhao Ziyang has managed to obtain Central Committee membership for some of his closest colleagues such as Bao Tong of the Commission for Restructuring the Economic System and Chen Junsheng, Secretary General of the State Council (but they did not, as many including myself thought, make the next leap up to the Secretariat). Despite several years in charge of the State