PUBLICITY IN THE NEWS MEDIA SHOULD BE FACT-BASED1
JANUARY 12, 1990
Until now, much of the focus in the news media has been on sufficiently describing our economic difficulties, which was entirely necessary. It now appears that we need to do a bit more to boost spirits. This is important because people are still feeling uncertain about the economic situation: they’re negative and discomfited, they lack confidence, they don’t know whether or not rectification measures will be effective, and they don’t know how lean the coming several lean years will be.
1. The Current Situation in Publicity
Thus we still have to talk about difficulties—expectations shouldn’t be too high, and we still have to be mentally prepared for the lean years—but more articles should be encouraging and should boost people’s spirits. No problem in Shanghai is overwhelming.
A very important task this year is to create a more favorable environment for enterprises. We started doing some of this work last year. Recently, Shanghai workers in the arts went to railroads, ports, and mines in Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Beijing, and Hebei to publicize, show goodwill, and perform—the response was very good. We should widely publicize this. When Wang Senhao, the governor of Shanxi, came to Shanghai recently, he personally thanked me. Their provincial Party secretaries and governors all went to see the performances of Li Bingshu,2 Mao Shanyu,3 Shen Xiaocen,4 Tong Xiangling,5 Guan Huai,6 and Yan Shunkai,7and their reaction was very favorable. What we sent them was spiritual sustenance: it was the warmth and the good wishes of Shanghai’s people. This approach was in the fine 50-year tradition of the Party.
At the moment, energy supply in Shanghai is very good. That, coupled with a recent national coal purchasing conference here, has boosted people’s impression of Shanghai. Our hospitality and earnest service won us support from all quarters, including the departments of the central government. I think we should organize some reporting on this purchasing conference to publicize Shanghai’s hospitality and service; the support by various provinces, municipalities, and central government departments; and the need for Shanghai to do more for the country. In other words, write more articles that boost spirits.
The conditions for production this year are better than in the past two years, and once the market turns around, Shanghai will have no problem at all reaching a 10% industrial growth rate. Of course we still won’t reach 10% this year because it’s hard for the market to change within a short time. To enable Shanghai to dominate the market, we have to emphasize the restructuring of industries and of product mix, work on improving technology, and focus on exports.
The current export situation is also very good. Last year Shanghai’s exports came to US$5 billion, which was no mean feat. The Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade instructed us to hold a foreign trade fair in Hong Kong in January, and it gave us a target of US$100 million in transactions. On the very first day we had US$15.65 million in transactions. We now have US$150 million, 50% more than our target. We’ll be holding a Shanghai foreign trade fair in March, and you should cover it well.
Some enterprises have now halted or partly halted production. This is necessary—if we don’t do this, Shanghai won’t be able to turn itself around. State-owned enterprises (SOEs) that have halted production had about 30,000 workers, or 2% of total SOE employees. Collectively owned enterprises that have halted production also had 30,000 workers, or 17% of total employees at such enterprises. The central government is paying a great deal of attention to the issue of laid-off workers—we must prevent this from affecting social stability. Shanghai doesn’t have too much of a problem in this regard. For SOEs, we’ve already formulated a plan for shutdowns, production halts, mergers, and transfers. Of course we will do our best to minimize closures, have more mergers and transfers, and form some corporate groups.
To turn itself around, Shanghai must “molt like a golden cicada,” and it must have the determination of the brave man who cuts off his own [snake-bitten] hand. Our city’s collectively owned enterprises are more of a headache. They’re scattered and backward, and their products are not competitive. According to recent discussions with the district Party secretaries and district heads about the livelihoods of workers at collectively owned enterprises, districts will address this issue. Each person will be guaranteed a minimum monthly stipend of RMB 75; if there is a shortfall, the district government will make it up. While district governments can support collectively owned enterprises that revamp their products through minor changes and reforms, they don’t have enough money to undertake major adjustments such as true closures and mergers. I recently came up with this idea: have the collectively owned enterprises in Shanghai implement a three-year plan for restructuring and technical upgrading. Banks could give them some loans, and the city and district governments could each cover half of the interest payments. Such enterprises are all under the jurisdiction of the districts, and these interest-free loans can support them in a turnaround. Through the three years of restructuring and technical upgrading, products that consume excessive amounts of energy and raw materials can be eliminated, collectively owned enterprises can acquire a new look, and their technology can be raised to a new level.
In conversation with performers from the Shanghai Kunqu Company and congratulating them after watching a performance of “15 Strings of Cash,” September 26, 1990.
Colleagues, you should publicize that we think of infrastructure construction as a war of annihilation. The basic approach in Shanghai is for the city’s Office of Major Project Construction to strengthen its coordination and supervision of the key projects included in our plan: it will concentrate the human resources, material resources, and financial resources of the entire city on these projects, assign people with specific responsibilities, issue military-style orders, and demand completion on schedule. This approach is extremely effective—last year, several dozen major projects were completed on time at the planned speeds. The work of the Municipal Bureau of Civil Engineering has also changed significantly. Its projects running from Pudong Road South to Hongqiao Road and Longwu Road were completed in a short time, in contrast to previous work where roads were being dug up everywhere with no completion date in sight. When people see such benefits every year, they become energized.
In the economic sphere, we will be adopting some major measures this year, and I hope you will work with us in publicizing them. There is nothing formidable about the difficulties in rectification, and what’s more, this is something we must do. Your reports should indicate how we are rectifying, how employees care about the operations of their enterprises, and how enterprises are being rescued by closures and mergers. Furthermore, you should note enterprise achievements in improving quality, expanding product variety, shortening delivery times, guaranteeing exports, and speeding up the building of an externally oriented economy. Publicize more, praise more, and boost spirits.
Shanghai will be taking new measures to open up. For example, we will hold a meeting of the International Business Leaders Advisory Council to the Mayor of Shanghai (IBLAC) in March and invite world-renowned entrepreneurs to be our advisers. We initially invited 18 people, and after the invitations were sent out, not a single person declined, whereas those who hadn’t been invited are trying every way possible to squeeze their way in—many are famous people. We held a preparatory meeting last year and will hold a formal meeting in March. This is something that can be reported on extensively—it shows how businesses in many countries are looking to Shanghai. We are also studying various policies for the development of Pudong and preparing to send a report to the central government. The conditions for opening up Pudong are very good. Next year—when the Huangpu River Bridge is opened to traffic, work on the Waigaoqiao port project begins, and several roads have been completed—conditions in Pudong will be ripe for large-scale foreign investment. This should be widely publicized.
2. How to Publicize Shanghai
To those of you from the Shanghai branches of central news agencies who want to publicize Shanghai more, I offer a word of caution. Is a lot of publicity really good? I’m in favor of an appropriate level but not an excessive amount of publicity. Is Shanghai actually doing such good work? Shanghai has its own historical conditions and cultural level, the caliber of its cadres is relatively good, and its economy is relatively strong, so it isn’t necessarily the fact that our own work is so good. I earnestly urge you to stop spotlighting me when you publicize Shanghai—it’s not good to emphasize individuals. Without the collective leadership of the Municipal Party Committee and without Shanghai’s unique features, I wouldn’t be able to accomplish much. Moreover, we all work under the direct leadership of the Party Central Committee and the State Council.
To reiterate: newspapers shouldn’t focus so much on what I say. Governance does not lie in a lot of talk. There is also continuity in Shanghai’s work, and in your reporting the current achievements here should be linked to previous achievements and to the foundation laid in the past. For example, the “vegetable basket” project didn’t start with me. The plan for the “vegetable basket” project had already been drawn up before I started working in Shanghai. The money—RMB 800 million annually—was already in hand and key projects were already laid out; I’m merely implementing them.
I feel we should organize some topical publicity on several major events in Shanghai that people have reacted to quite favorably, and on Jiang Zemin’s prominent role in them. Actual implementation of the “vegetable basket” and of infrastructure construction started only after Jiang Zemin started working in Shanghai; he personally took charge of the new passenger rail station and the Yan’an Road West tunnel. He was also the one who advocated clean government, and he was the first to propose “four dishes and a soup.” As for strengthening ideological work, after becoming municipal Party secretary in 1987, Jiang Zemin conducted in-depth studies of work on all fronts, convened and chaired a meeting of the Municipal Party Committee specifically to examine ideological work, and produced a resolution8 that was the first [of its sort] in the country. I hope the Municipal Party Committee’s publicity department will consider systematically reporting on these achievements. The recent publicity about Tianjin has been quite systematic—this is correct and good, but there are also good things in Shanghai! For instance, Shanghai has been quick to focus on doing practical things, and what’s more, these have been effective. We can now see that doing practical things for the people can really play a very great role.
I suggest that we have a division of labor. Each of you—the Shanghai branch of the Xinhua News Agency, the Shanghai Bureau of the People’s Daily, the Liberation Daily, the Wenhuibao, and the Xinmin Evening News—should work on one topic. Don’t write the articles right away—if you write them right away they will be very superficial. You should write in some depth so that they are credible, yet not overdone. This means you have to put some effort into thinking things through, so that after reading these articles, people will feel that this is indeed the case and very well put.
Greeting members of Shanghai performing arts companies after a tour performance, February 3, 1990. These companies had returned to Shanghai after performing in Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, and Beijing. (Photograph by Cui Yijun)
3. How to Produce Good Publicity
In publishing news, you must have independent insights and take the initiative in gatekeeping. Look, for example, at uncentralized decisionmaking, which is quite serious in Shanghai—some departments have many ideas of their own and aren’t very eager to seek approvals. The State Council has issued a circular criticizing us for inviting the Iranian Minister of Energy to Shanghai on our own. Of course the circumstances here were very complicated, but no matter what, it wasn’t correct. I later came to the conclusion that uncentralized decisionmaking occurs at every level, and this sort of error can be avoided just by paying a little attention. You should therefore use your independent judgment about all the information provided by various departments and act as gatekeepers on your own initiative.
Henceforth if there is anything you’re unclear about, you can ask the vice mayor or deputy Party secretary in charge; for lesser matters, you can ask the [city government’s] secretary-general. In such matters, we have never been annoyed by your asking for guidance too often. When you’re uncertain about something, make a few more phone calls and ask.
In other words, I’m asking you to pay attention to gatekeeping about overall, macro-level assessments, and to be careful in drawing conclusions. At the micro-level, if some unit is corrupt, if something hasn’t been done well, I very much welcome your bold exposés and won’t be afraid no matter how pointed they are. This is the best sort of media oversight for improving our work. The city government agencies have already formed a habit: we mayors must personally look into any shortcoming in the work of the city government or any suggestion that is reported in the newspapers. Have you sensed this yet?
Lastly, I want to offer you early New Year’s greetings. I hope you all enjoy a good Spring Festival, and at the same time provide good publicity through the arts for the Spring Festival. The people’s tastes are shifting in a direction that is wholesome, smacks of real life, is realistic and down-to-earth. Many provinces and municipalities are changing in this way, and we in Shanghai mustn’t fall behind. People are no longer so interested in things that merely imitate Hong Kong and Western tastes. Furthermore, TV stations should carry fewer programs of a commercial nature. I know you have your difficulties and can’t survive without carrying some, but they should be fewer in number. You should emphasize the role of ideological publicity: that “All Around You” program of yours is very well done. While TV stations should do more to publicize the new trend of positivity and dedication, they should also lash out at the ugly and uncivilized. There should be less commercial and limp content—people might not welcome these.
I hope we can put on a good Spring Festival TV gala—this is no easy task! I suggested to [Chen] Zhili9 that we bring together members of our arts circles who performed for the grass roots in the Shanxi coal mines and elsewhere for a command performance and praise them. They weren’t moonlighting—they were serving workers, farmers, and soldiers, and they were serving Shanghai’s economic development.
1. These are the main points of Zhu Rongji’s speech at the seventh symposium of Shanghai branches of central news agencies and of leaders from Shanghai’s main news agencies.
2. Li Bingshu was a performer from the Shanghai Academy of Beijing Opera.
3. Mao Shanyu was a performer from the Shanghai Academy of Shanghai Opera.
4. Shen Xiaocen was a performer from the Shanghai Light Orchestra.
5. Tong Xiangling was a performer from the Shanghai Academy of Beijing Opera.
6. Guan Huai was a performer from the Shanghai Academy of Beijing Opera.
7. Yan Shunkai was a performer from the Shanghai Comedy Troupe.
8. This refers to the resolution titled “Several Comments of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee on the Current Strengthening and Improvement of Ideological Work.”
9. Chen Zhili was then a deputy Party secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee and director of its publicity department.