Wu Minyi, vice mayor of Wenzhou, has recently resigned from his post. Along with him, three other senor officials in Wenzhou’s local government also left: Lin Peiyun, vice mayor, He Baogeng, secretary-general and Wang Yunzheng, deputy secretary-general.

According to Shanghai-based Wenhui Daily, 45-year-old Wu Minyi is a post-graduate in management from Fudan University. He was assigned to the economic and planning committee of Zhejiang Province in 1984 after graduation. In 1995, he was promoted to vice president of the economic construction planning institute of Zhejiang Province. He then became vice mayor of Wenzhou in October 1998. It is said his resignation was permitted.

The following is a dialogue between Wenhui Daily reporter and Wu Minyi:

Reporter: When did the idea of resignation come to you? What will you do?

Wu: This idea originated in February when an election campaign was launched in Wenzhou for the post of Mayor and I was one of the candidates. At that time, I made a decision that I would continue my work in Wenzhou if I won, otherwise I would start a career in business in order to further realize my life plan in advance. My life plan has included higher education, a government official position, and business. This time, my aim is simple: create a new life value.

Reporter: I talked with some friends in Wenzhou before I met you. They all spoke highly of you, regarding you as one of the most capable leaders of recent years in Wenzhou; a scholar without dispute. Could you comment on your own achievements?

Wu: It happens to be four and a half years since I became vice mayor. During the period, together with former Mayor Qian Xingzhong and some others, I promoted an idea called “moderate government”, which proposed that the government should tighten its control on the one hand, while giving enterprises greater freedom on the other. In the scope of my responsibilities, I tried my utmost and made achievements in areas like building a digital Wenzhou and a credible Wenzhou; reforming the administrative examination system; helping the state-owned enterprises to fit to a market economy; asking private enterprises to create their own brands; making friends with private entrepreneurs and encouraging them to innovate and pursue sustainable development; establishing a social security system. Anyway, I feel proud of my achievements and the commendations for my work from Wenzhou.

Reporter: Given you have so many entrepreneur friends in Wenzhou and they must all want you to join their businesses, what kind of enterprise will you choose to work for?

Wu: Before my resignation was permitted, I did not tell any of my business friends. But recently when some friends came to know of it, they did make me some offers. However, I may eventually choose to work for an enterprise where I have had the least experience. I set a strict standard for my future development. It must qualify in the following six categories at least: it should be rooted in Wenzhou, while developing beyond it: it should have established products while inventing new ones; it should focus not only on its profits but also on its developments; it should have a stable development period after initial expansion; it should seek brand effect; its entrepreneurs to be of high quality. As a matter of fact, these six requirements represent the trend of Wenzhou’s private enterprises, although such enterprises are just about 10 in number. So far, I have not decided, while I can tell you clearly that it must be a Wenzhou enterprise operating in Shanghai. Shanghai has a very good business environment together with new ideas as well as a fair competitive atmosphere. I like this kind of business platform.

Wu Minyi’s resignation stimulated rather strong reactions from government officials in Wenzhou and Zhejiang. They all made very good comments about Wu’s work and showed an understanding of his resignation to some extent.

Ma Jinlong, former director of Wenzhou Reform Committee, described Wu as a “capable” official. Another senior provincial official said that Wu Minyi has excellent abilities and qualities. He is one of the four excellent cadres selected by the central authority to study in Harvard University, where he communicated fluently in English with more than 100 US officials. In addition, he is also a computer expert, the official noted.

(China.org.cn, translated by Zheng Guihong, April 30, 2003)