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M A Y O R   O F   S H A N G H A I Xu Kuangdi Mayor of Shanghai & Deputy Party Secretary

XU KUANGDI was born on December 1936 near Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province, Xu Kuangdi worked in education, science and technology for three decades, first in Beijing and later in Shanghai. He is a national expert in special steel production, electrical metallurgy and injection metallurgy. While Vice President of Shanghai Polytechnical University (now part of Shanghai University), Xu won an award for his contributions to scientific research. He left the university in 1989 to serve as director of the Municipal Higher Education Bureau and, concurrently, as deputy director of the Education and Health Commission. In 1991, he was named director of the Municipal Planning Commission, and in August 1992, Executive Vice Mayor with responsibility for economic affairs. Xu was appointed an alternate member of the 14th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in October 1992 and a full member of the 15th Central Party Committee in September 1997. In 1994, Xu was appointed Shanghai Deputy Party Secretary. Xu was elected Shanghai Mayor in February 1995. He was reappointed Shanghai Deputy Party Secretary in December 1997 and Shanghai Mayor in February 1998. The term of office is five years. A 1959 graduate of the Beijing Iron and Steel Institute in metallurgy, Xu was one of the "young technocrats" brought into leadership positions in the past decade. He enjoys a reputation in Shanghai for being an efficient government official who cuts through red tape. His rapid rise to Shanghai Mayor was assisted by his strong relationship with his former boss, the then-Vice Premier (former Shanghai Mayor and current Premier) Zhu Rongji. Xu has been to a number of countries as a visiting scholar and on official trips. He studied in London and worked in Sweden for several years in the mid-1980's. He traveled to the former Soviet Union on a higher education delegation in May 1990. He has been to the U.S. on several occasions. In July 1995, despite the fallout in relations between China and the United States over Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui's visit to the United States, he led a 400-person "sister-city" delegation to participate in "Shanghai Week" in San Francisco. In November 1996, he was invited to speak at an international conference on Asia sponsored by the President Bush Library in Los Angeles. He also met with Vice President Gore and Speaker Gingrich in Washington. Mayor Xu completed a three-month senior Party training program in 1997, and has long been rumored to be slated for a higher position in Beijing. Xu speaks good English. His two daughters currently reside in the United States. (sources from www.usembassy-china.org.cn)