Tong Zhiguang

In 1949, he was enrolled in Beijing Normal School. In July 1951, he graduated and was appointed to the Tea Company of the Ministry of Trade. In July 1952, he enrolled in University of International Business and Economics. He graduated in 1955 and thereafter worked in the business division of the Chinese Embassy in India. He married in 1958, and upon returning to China, he served as an interpreter in the Intercultural Section of the Ministry of Foreign Trade, thereafter working at the Chinese Consulate General in Bombay. In 1961, he was assigned to the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar, and in 1969, he faced persecution during the Cultural Revolution and was dispatched to labor in a dry school. In 1972, he was appointed to the Permanent Mission of the United Nations and subsequently transferred to the Liaison Office of the Chinese Embassy in the United States as a commercial secretary.

In 1973, he became a member of the Chinese Communist Party. In 1978, he assumed the role of director of the Import Division of the China Cereals and Oils Import & Export Corporation [zh] (CCOIEC). In 1980, he assumed the role of deputy general manager. In 1980, he ascended to the position of deputy general manager, and in 1984, in Hong Kong, he was appointed executive deputy general manager of China Resources, then advancing to general manager.^[1]

In January 1991, he returned to China to assume the position of vice minister of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation [zh]. In 1992, he assumed leadership of the Sino-US delegation on intellectual property rights, the Sino-US delegation on market access, and the delegation for the resumption of tariff negotiations, directing discussions regarding the China-US trade dispute with the United States.^[2] Throughout his tenure, he negotiated with the U.S. to finalize two Memoranda of Understanding regarding "Market Access" and "Intellectual Property Rights Protection".^[3] In March 1998, he was elected to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress during the inaugural session of the 9th National People's Congress.^[4][5][6][7]

In April 1994, he assumed the roles of chairman and party secretary of the Export-Import Bank of China. He died on July 24, 2017, in Beijing at the age of 84.^[8][9]