VZCZCXRO2075
RR RUEHCN RUEHVC
DE RUEHGH #0436/01 2831105
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 091105Z OCT 08
FM AMCONSUL SHANGHAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7229
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RULSDMK/DEPT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 7820

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SHANGHAI 000436 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
TREASURY FOR OASIA/INA/CUSHMAN AND WINSHIP 
DEPT FOR EAP/CM 
DEPT FOR INR/B 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON PGOV EFIN ETRD EINV KIPR CH
SUBJECT: HANGZHOU VICE MAYOR DISCUSSES FINANCIAL TURMOIL, CPC PLENUM, 
AND IP PROTECTION 
 
REF: SHANGHAI 320 
 
SHANGHAI 00000436  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
(U) This cable is sensitive but unclassified and for official 
use only.  Not for distribution outside of USG channels or via 
the internet. 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) Tong Guili, Vice Mayor of Hangzhou, told the Consul 
General on October 9 that the city's exports have decreased in 
the face of a challenging economic environment, and the 
municipal government has introduced several export promotion 
measures to counter the effects of the global financial crisis. 
Tong said the upcoming Communist Party of China (CPC) plenary 
session would be an important opportunity to address the 
urban-rural income gap problem, which she believes Hangzhou has 
managed better than many other cities.  The Vice Mayor also 
commented on the evaluation of local leaders and intellectual 
property protection in Hangzhou.  End Summary. 
 
Paying Close Attention to Global Financial Turmoil 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Vice Mayor Tong said Hangzhou officials are paying 
close attention to the impact of the global financial crisis on 
small exporters (see also reftel).  Hangzhou's exports to the 
United States have decreased this year, she said, and the 
municipal government has introduced a series of measures to 
encourage exports, including offering preferential loans to 
small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and also reducing the 
tax burden for SMEs.  According to the Vice Mayor, Hangzhou is 
better positioned than many Chinese cities to tackle economic 
challenges because of the high proportion of private firms in 
the city.  Hangzhou officials are optimistic that private firms, 
working together with the municipal government, can overcome the 
current difficulties, she said. 
 
Hangzhou's Views on the Third Plenum 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶3. (SBU) When asked about the upcoming Third Plenum of the 17th 
Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Vice Mayor 
Tong immediately referred to the importance of addressing the 
global financial crisis at the Plenum.  Only when specifically 
asked about the Plenum's stated focus on rural reform did she 
repeat the Central Government's position that it is important 
for the entire country's economic and social development for the 
Plenum to focus on rural reform and the urban-rural income gap. 
For Hangzhou, the urban-rural income gap is not as large because 
rapid urbanization has benefited rural residents, she said, and 
the municipal government will continue to promote urbanization 
and secure the rights of villagers living in the municipality. 
 
Evaluation and Training of Local Leaders 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) In response to a question about possible outcomes from 
the Plenum's rural reform focus that would affect her work in 
Hangzhou, Vice Mayor Tong said her trade and investment 
portfolio would be unaffected by the Plenum.  Tong acknowledged 
efforts in Southern China and elsewhere to revise the evaluation 
of local leaders to include non-economic indicators such as 
environmental protection.  For her part, however, as the Vice 
Mayor with the foreign affairs portfolio, Tong told the Consul 
General that most of her evaluation focuses on promoting 
economic development in Hangzhou through trade, investment, and 
foreign economic cooperation. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Tong said the Zhejiang Provincial government sends 50 
local officials to economic training programs in the United 
States each year, including one-year Master's in Public 
Administration (MPA) courses in Los Angeles and Houston, an 
indication of the importance of foreign trade and investment to 
Zhejiang Province and Hangzhou municipality.  Tong praised the 
four-month economic management training course she attended at 
UCLA in 2000. 
 
Protecting Intellectual Property in Hangzhou 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Although the Consulate has in the past found Zhejiang 
provincial and Hangzhou municipal government officials unwilling 
to discuss intellectual property rights (IPR) concerns, Vice 
 
SHANGHAI 00000436  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Mayor Tong said municipal government officials now better 
understand the importance of protecting IPR because Hangzhou is 
trying to develop its hi-tech sector.  IPR will therefore be a 
key part of the city's development strategy, Tong said, adding 
that the municipality still has a long way to go to meet global 
standards for IPR protection.  There is an IPR complaint center 
in Hangzhou that cooperates with the Municipal Science and 
Technology Bureau and Municipal Industrial and Commerce Bureau, 
she said. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Vice Mayor Tong reiterated many of the concerns raised 
by Mayor Cai Qi in Hangzhou two months ago.  Like other 
second-tier cities in East China, Hangzhou clearly remains 
seriously concerned about the impact of the global financial 
crisis and the economic slowdown in the United States. 
 
Bio Note: Tong Guili 
-------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Tong Guili is a young, impressive city official who is 
steadily moving upward.  She was born in October 1969 in Anshun, 
Guizhou Province, and is a native of Wuchang, Heilongjiang 
Province.  She was named Vice Mayor of Hangzhou in April 2007 
after having served as Deputy Secretary General of Hangzhou's 
CPC Standing Committee from December 2006 to April 2007.  Her 
portfolio includes trade, investment, foreign economic 
cooperation, foreign affairs, Overseas Chinese affairs, Taiwan 
affairs, port affairs, the Hangzhou Economic Development Zone, 
and High-tech Industrial Zone.  She is responsible for the work 
of Hangzhou's Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau and 
the Municipal Foreign Affairs Office. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Tong visited the Consulate on October 9 to apply for a 
visa to travel to New York as the head of a municipal 
government-level delegation to the United Nations, which will 
host the "Hangzhou Food Festival" October 18-21.  Tong said it 
would be her second trip to the United States -- in 2000 she 
attended a four-month economic management training at the 
University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) sponsored by the 
Zhejiang Provincial Government. 
 
¶10. (SBU) CPC Party Secretary in Fuyang County, Zhejiang 
Province from December 2002 to December 2006 (and Fuyang's 
Deputy Party Secretary from July 2001 to December 2002).  From 
1990 to 2001, she was Deputy Chief and then Chief of the 
Qinggong Department of the Communist Youth League (CYL) Hangzhou 
Committee, Deputy Secretary and then Secretary of the CYL's 
Hangzhou Committee, and a member of the CPC Hangzhou Standing 
Committee. 
CAMP