Jing Shuping

Jing Shuping the Chinese industrialist and politician of the twentieth century (1911-1992) who was a leading figure in the movement to build a national modern industry and who was the senior non-party figure in the early government of the People's Republic. He is remembered as an advocate of private enterprise in the service of national development.

Early Life and Education

Jing Shuping was born on 12 October 1911 in Huzhou, Zhejiang province, into a family with a business tradition. He grew up in the eastern cities where a modern commercial culture had developed, and he received a progressive education that included training in engineering and management. These early experiences gave him both a practical grasp of industry and a sense of the weakness of the country's economic base.

He studied civil engineering in Shanghai and later in Britain, and he travelled in Europe to study industrial practice. This education in a modern economy, combined with his observation of the industrial methods of the West, convinced him that China needed to develop its own manufacturing capacity if it were to resist foreign domination. He returned home with technical skills and a clear purpose.

The political and economic conditions of the 1930s, with foreign control of much of the modern sector and the threat of war, shaped his conviction that Chinese industry must be organised by Chinese hands. He entered the world of manufacturing with a seriousness that reflected a national as well as a commercial ambition.

Industrial Enterprise and National Industry

Jing Shuping became known as a builder of modern factories and a promoter of technical standards in manufacturing. He worked in a variety of industrial settings and helped to establish enterprises that aimed to compete with the products of foreign firms on the basis of quality. He believed that sound engineering and honest dealing were the foundation of a durable business.

He was active in the associations of Chinese industrialists and spoke for the development of an indigenous industry. He argued for coordination among manufacturers, for the training of skilled workers and engineers, and for the protection of domestic enterprise, and he criticised the dependence of the economy on foreign capital and imported goods.

He also concerned himself with the social conditions of workers and with the responsibilities of employers. His approach to management reflected a belief that industry should serve the community as well as the owner, and that the industrialist had obligations beyond the pursuit of profit. These views placed him among the more progressive figures of the Chinese business world.

Public Service in the Early People's Republic

With the victory of the Communist forces in 1949, Jing Shuping was among the non-party figures invited to take part in the new government. He left the private industrial sector and accepted public office, a step that allowed him to continue working for the industrial development of the country within the framework of the new state.

He served in senior posts concerned with the management of industry and the administration of the cities, and he was responsible for the organisation of production and the coordination of enterprises. His technical knowledge and his experience of business made him a valuable adviser to a government that had few specialists in modern management, and he worked to keep the machinery of industry running through the transition.

He was one of a small number of non-communist public figures who held positions of trust in the early years of the People's Republic, a status that gave him a distinctive place in the political life of the time. His reputation for competence and integrity allowed him to bridge the gap between the old business world and the new political order.

The Shanghai Years and Later Career

In the 1950s and 1960s Jing Shuping worked in the administration of Shanghai, the country's greatest industrial city, where his skills were most useful. He was concerned with the organisation of manufacturing, the supply of materials and the maintenance of standards, and he helped to guide the city's industry through a period of major reorganisation.

His position exposed him to the political campaigns of the era, and he was compelled to justify his past and to demonstrate his loyalty to the new order. Unlike some former industrialists he survived the upheavals of the 1950s and retained his standing, though the conditions under which he worked became increasingly difficult as the political climate hardened.

He continued in public service during the difficult years of the Cultural Revolution and its aftermath. His experience of both private enterprise and public administration gave him a rare perspective on the problems of economic management, and he was consulted on industrial questions into the final years of his career.

Influence and Legacy

Jing Shuping died on 16 October 1992 in Beijing. He is remembered as one of the small group of Chinese industrialists who placed their technical knowledge and managerial skill at the service of the nation, and as a public figure who embodied a continuity between the business world of the Republican era and the administrative system of the People's Republic.

His career illustrates a distinctive response to the upheavals of twentieth-century China: the decision to work within the new order rather than to leave the country, in the belief that the industrialisation of China was a task that transcended political difference. This choice gave him a constructive role in a period of great change.

He is commemorated as an advocate of industry and of national self-reliance, and his emphasis on technical competence, honest management and service to the community has been cited by later generations concerned with the development of Chinese enterprise. His name is remembered among the founding figures of modern Chinese industry.

See also

• Industry of China
• Shanghai
• National industry
• Economic history of China