Wang Zhongyu (born February 1933) is a Chinese engineer, politician, and diplomat of the People's Republic of China. An associate of Zhu Rongji, he was involved with the modernization and continued opening up of China and its economy during the 1990s and 2000s. Life Wang Zhongyu was born in February 1933 in Changchun, then the capital of the Japanese puppet state of Manchuria. (It now forms part of the northeastern Chinese province of Jilin.) He attended Changchun's now-prestigious High School Attached to Northeast Normal University, followed by studies at the Light Industry Vocational School in Shenyang (1950–1953). He worked as a technician at the Jilin Paper Mill before joining the Communist Party in May 1956, after which he slowly rose in position from deputy workshop head to engineer to deputy factory director to chief engineer of the factory by 1980. At that point, he was named deputy director of Jilin's provincial Light Industry Bureau in 1980. After studying at the Central Party School in Beijing in 1981 and 1982, he rose very quickly through the ranks of Jilin's provincial administration as it accommodated itself to the economic and structural reforms undertaken by Deng Xiaoping. Wang returned to Jilin as the director of the province's Light Industry Bureau (1982–1983), was promoted to vice-governor and secretary-general of the provincial Communist Party (1983—1985), and then served as acting governor of Jilin Province from 1985 to 1989. He then served as governor in his own right until 1992. While serving as acting and full governor, he was also deputy secretary of the provincial party. During Wang's tenure, Jilin began to adapt itself to Deng's policies but in a slow and half-hearted fashion, needing to spend extra time combating bureaucratic growth and adapting policies years later than more progressive provinces like Shandong. The favored position of northeastern industries under Mao Zedong and the province's lack of a port limited its people's desire and ability to participate in China's new economy. Wang then received national assignments. Having been an alternate member of the 13th Central Committee of the Communist Party (1987–1992), he was named a full member of its 14th and 15th sittings (1992–2002). In particular, Wang was a minister-level deputy director and secretary at the State Planning Commission from 1993 to 1998, where he headed its State Economic and Trade Commission under direction from Zhu Rongji. The SETC's remit was to promote a market economy