Li Lanqing graduated from the Business Management Department of Fudan University in Shanghai in 1952. Early in his career he worked for the establishment of the First, Second, and the Third Auto Works. From 1978 he was involved in the country' s reform and opening-up to the outside world, holding such important positions as Director-General of the Foreign Investment Bureau under the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, Vice Minister and then Minister of MOFTEC. Li Lanqing served two terms as Vice Premier of the State Council of the People' s Republic of China from 1993 to 2003. During these ten years, he was in charge of education, science and technology, foreign trade and economic cooperation, finance and taxation, culture, public health, the press, publishing, and sports. As one of the national leaders in those years, Li Lanqing not only witnessed the great progress of China' s opening-up, but also actively took part in the exploration, implementation and decision- making process of the opening-up policy.