1993 was a remarkable year for billionaire Liu Yonghao, for that spring he became the first entrepreneur to appear at a Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) press conference. Liu, who has twice topped the Forbes fortune list in China, made his fortune selling pig feed. He will be in Beijing again, possibly with a blueprint for the agricultural industry. But this time he'll feel more at home in the CPPCC, for it has more than 100 other businesspersons.
With the flourishing private sector in the country, entrepreneurs are becoming more and more active as political advisors. But they are not the only group to have done so because the country's highest political advisory body now comprises Olympic officials and sponsors, sportspersons, environmental experts and people from the world of entertainment, too. All of them will be at work during the annual CPPCC session, which begins on March 3.
Though the list of the rich in the CPPCC changes every year, reflecting China's dynamic economic development, some of the old faces can still be seen this year. The country's richest woman, Nine Dragon president Zhang Yin, was under the spotlight last year, and would still be there this year. Other familiar faces include Li Shufu, chairman of Geely Automobile Holding Co, China's largest private carmaker.
The booming service industry has contributed some new names to the list. Zhang Jindong, founder of the second largest home appliance retailing chain Suning, joins the CPPCC this year. Keeping him company will be Chen Tianqiao, 34, who heads China's largest online video game provider Shanda Interactive Entertainment.
As one of the most dynamic financial centers in the world, Hong Kong is known for its professionals and entrepreneurs. This year, the special administrative region (SAR) of China will send some young but high-profile professionals to the CPPCC session. Newly appointed HSBC executive director Vincent Cheng Hoi-chuen will be one of those faces, as will be Hong Kong lawmaker Jeffery Lam Kin-fung.
Second-generation tycoons, too, are in focus this year, with the SAR's four big real estate families being represented in the CPPCC. Other prominent names include Kenneth Fok Kai-kong, grandson of late CPPCC vice-chairman Henry Fok Ying-tung. Bank of East Asia chairman David Li Kwok-po's sons Brian Li Man-pun and Adrian Li Man-kiu, and Chinese Estates Holdings chairman Joseph Lau Luen-hung's son Lau Ming-wai, too, will be there.
Those involved with the Beijing Olympic Games are hot on the list, with one executive president and two executive vice-presidents of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) making it to the CPPCC. Executive president Deng Pufang is also chairman of the Chinese Federation for Disabled Persons, and executive vice-president Liu Jingmin is also vice-mayor of Beijing. The second BOCOG executive vice-president in the CPPCC is Jiang Xiaoyu.
Other BOCOG members who will show up at the CPPCC session include former world speed-skating champion Ye Qiaobo and former world table tennis champion Deng Yaping. Ye won China's first Winter Olympics medal at Albertville, France, in 1992 but was forced to retire two years later because of injuries. The 44-year-old had to use a wheelchair while studying for her college degree at Tsinghua University. She is now part of the team preparing for the Olympic Torch Relay.
Deng was a favorite of many Chinese because of her talent and happy and daring nature. The 34-year-old won 18 world championship and Olympic gold medals. She is now the vice-director of BOCOG's Olympic Village Department.
Among the other high-ranking Olympic officials on the list are Chinese Olympic Committee's Anti-doping Commission director Shi Kangcheng, and president of Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong Timothy Fok Tsun-ting.
Marketing of the Olympics is an important part of the sport gala, and has rightly been given its place in the CPPCC. People from this field include Lenovo Group founder Liu Chuanzhi and China Mobile CEO Wang Jianzhou. Both the companies are partners of the Games.
The environment and the fight to protect it deserve the highest attention because of a threat called global warming. Experts from this special group in the CPPCC include three State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) officials - deputy director Wu Xiaoqing, former deputy director Wang Yuqing and director of the information office of SEPA's China National Environmental Monitoring Center Wen Xiangcai.
Officials from environmental bureaus of Hunan and Guizhou provinces are also on the list. Zhai Liya's fight against pollution of farmland in Guizhou for the past 28 years makes her a natural choice for the job. In fact, the 55-year-old woman is widely acknowledged as an expert on preventing mercury damage to the soil.
The list also includes other environmentalists and ecologists fighting climate change. Yao Tandong, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is well known across the world for his study on glaciers. For three decades, he has been studying the changes on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the source of some of the most important rivers in the world, including the Yangtze, Yellow, Ganges, Indus, Mekong and the Yarlung Tsangpo. His research shows the impact of global warming on the glaciers, as well as on the ecology of the plateau.
Entertainers and sportspersons, too, will be in the spotlight. Film director Feng Xiaogang, China Central Television Station (CCTV) anchorpersons Cui Yongyuan, Zhu Jun and Hai Xia, Tibetan singer Han Hong, tennis player Yan Zi and hurdler Liu Xiang are some of the other new names on the list.
Gong Li has not been included this year, but director Zhang Yimou is still a CPPCC National Committee member. Zhang will design the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics, too.
(China Daily, February 29, 2008)