Editing Jiang Zemin (section)

== Early career ==
In 1962, he returned to Shanghai and became the deputy director of the Shanghai Electric Research Institute. In 1966, he was appointed as the director and deputy party secretary of a [[thermal engineering]] research institute in [[Wuhan]], which was established by the [[First Ministry of Machine Building]]. When the [[Cultural Revolution]] began in the same year, he did not suffer greatly during the turmoil, but was pulled down from his position as director of the institute and was sent to a [[May Seventh Cadre School]]. In 1970, after leaving the cadre school, he became the deputy director of the Foreign Affairs Bureau of the ministry and was sent to the [[Socialist Republic of Romania]], where he served as head of the expert team to establish fifteen machinery manufacturing plants in the country. After the completion of his mission in 1972, he returned to China.{{Sfn|Kuhn|2004|p=76}}{{Sfn|Kuhn|2004|p=82}}{{Sfn|Kuhn|2004|p=84}}

In 1979, following a thawing of [[China–United States relations|diplomatic relations between China and the United States]], [[Deng Xiaoping]] decided to encourage [[special economic zone]]s (SEZs) as part of his [[Four Modernizations]].{{Sfn|Kuhn|2004|p=101}} China's [[State Council of the People's Republic of China|State Council]] established two ministerial commissions to increase trade and foreign investment. The commissions were headed by vice premier [[Gu Mu]], who appointed Jiang as vice chairman of both commissions, a position equivalent to vice minister.{{Sfn|Kuhn|2004|p=102}} Jiang's role was to ensure these SEZs increased economic prosperity without becoming "conduits" for foreign ideology.{{Sfn|Kuhn|2004|p=102}} In 1980, Jiang headed a delegation which toured other SEZs in twelve countries; upon his return, he issued a radical report which recommended allowing local authorities to issue tax breaks and land leases, and increasing the power of [[International joint venture|foreign joint ventures]].{{Sfn|Kuhn|2004|p=103}} The report initially "caused consternation" among party leaders, but his pragmatic and empirical presentation appealed to Deng Xiaoping. His proposals were approved at the National People's Congress, cementing Jiang as an "early implementer" of [[Deng Xiaoping Theory]].{{Sfn|Kuhn|2004|p=104}}

In March 1982, he was pushed out as vice chairman of two commissions. After pressure from premier Gu and Shanghai mayor [[Wang Daohan]], "ardent reformist" Zhao Ziyang appointed Jiang as the first vice minister and party secretary of the newly established [[Fourth Ministry of Machine Building|Ministry of Electronics Industry.]]{{Sfn|Kuhn|2004|p=105}}

At the [[12th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party|12th Party Congress]] held in September 1982, Jiang became a member of the [[Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party|Central Committee of the CCP]], which determines policy and elects the members of the [[Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party|Politburo]].{{Sfn|Kuhn|2004|p=105}}