Deeply remember Comrade Jiang Zemin | Liu Zhenyuan: He always reminds us to “be high-minded”

He always reminds us to “aim high”

Liu Zhenyuan

I am extremely saddened to hear the news of Comrade Jiang Zemin’s death. He came to Shanghai in 1985 and went to work in Beijing in 1989. During this period, I served as the deputy mayor, in charge of science and technology, foreign affairs, public security, culture and other work, and worked with him for 4 years. He is our good leader and our good brother. His working methods and thinking style during his work in Shanghai are worthy of our continuous inheritance and development.

At that time, Comrade Zemin came to Shanghai from the Ministry of Electronics Industry and was very concerned about the development of science and technology in Shanghai. He once said to me: “If Shanghai has no achievements in high technology, we will be sorry for our People’s Republic of China, because Shanghai’s conditions in this regard are The best.” In 1984, under the impetus of the old mayor Wang Daohan, we decided to build the Caohejing Microelectronics Development Zone, which is the earliest high-tech development zone in the country. Comrade Jiang Zemin was very supportive of this after he came to Shanghai, approved the land for the construction of the development zone, and strongly supported the introduction of advanced technologies from developed countries in the world. At the same time, he also encouraged us to “go out and bring in” to learn from international advanced technologies, techniques and management models. I visited Silicon Valley four times, and invited the Association of Chinese Engineers in Silicon Valley to visit Shanghai three times.

American experts helped us build Caohejing, and Comrade Zemin thought again, why can’t we use this method to find more experts for other work? Under his proposition, we began to invite international entrepreneurs from all over the world to come to Shanghai to offer suggestions for Shanghai’s development, which was later continued until today’s Shanghai Mayor International Entrepreneurs Consultation Conference. It can be seen from this that one of the characteristics of Comrade Zemin is that he particularly emphasizes an international perspective.

Comrade Zemin has always advocated that an open city should extensively establish good relations with international friends and international organizations. He always reminded us that to be an international metropolis, Shanghai should not only consider issues from Shanghai itself, but must consider our policies and positioning from the perspective of the international environment. This can be said to be a guiding ideology. His foreign language proficiency is very high. When Gorbachev visited Shanghai that year, Comrade Zemin spoke directly to him in Russian. Gorbachev was very surprised and said: “When I came to several cities in China, only the leaders of Shanghai can do without translation.” Chat with me.” When receiving American guests, Comrade Zemin could communicate in English, and the two translators of the Foreign Affairs Office sat aside and had nothing to do.

Comrade Zemin has a broad vision and is quick to accept new things. When he holds meetings with us, he often puts forward some guiding opinions. He doesn’t necessarily tell you how to do it directly, but he may inspire you with a sentence or two. When I was in charge of cultural work, Shanghai wanted to hold an international TV festival. At first it was reported, but the relevant departments did not approve it. I felt that Shanghai did not have the conditions. Comrade Zemin gave me an idea, he said: Aren’t you in charge of foreign affairs? Wouldn’t it be enough for you to find Shanghai’s sister cities and use your brains? After hearing this, I suddenly realized that I found the consul generals of seven international sister cities in Shanghai and proposed to hold a sister city TV festival. A first of its kind. Now that I think about it, it’s a pretty good idea.

Comrade Zemin attaches great importance to the cultivation of talents. Once he asked me, what are the advantages of Shanghai? I talked a lot about the economy and industry. But he said: “Old Liu, there is one more important thing—talents. Shanghai must be a highland for talents. You should understand this best!” Comrade Zemin is also caring and approachable to cadres. At the beginning, I was in charge of culture, and I was very nervous: I am a scientific researcher, and I don’t understand culture, so how can I manage culture? Comrade Zemin said to me: It doesn’t matter, I am also a scientific researcher, I promise to support you, and we will discuss it together. When the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra established the Philharmonic Association and invited me to conduct on stage, I couldn’t resist my kindness, so I went to play “Carmen Overture”. As a result, someone went to Comrade Zemin to give advice, saying that Liu Zhenyuan was “playing tickets”. Unexpectedly, at a meeting of cadres later, Comrade Zemin specifically mentioned this matter, saying that Comrade Zhenyuan is advocating serious music, and more people in our big city should know about symphony. What’s wrong? Comrade Zemin would take such a small matter to heart and resolve it in such a way. I am very moved.

Of course, Comrade Zemin also has high requirements for cadres. At that time, he cared about everything from major policies for urban development to small piles of garbage on the road. Sometimes we can’t answer. He put great emphasis on going deep into the grassroots, and set a “no meeting day” system every Thursday afternoon. Cadres must go to the grassroots to investigate and study, and to give feedback. He has always said that Chairman Mao said that “without investigation, there is no right to speak.” If you sit on it every day, do not go down to investigate, do not make friends with the masses, how much right to speak do you have? It’s not good to slap your head, no matter how clever your head is. I think this is very instructive even today.