Zhang Baifa
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Zhang Baifa (Chinese: 张百发; 1935 – 5 July 2019) was a Chinese politician and a construction worker by trade. He became a protégé of Wan Li and rose to the position of Vice Mayor and Executive Vice Mayor of Beijing, serving from 1983 to 1995. Zhang was in charge of major construction projects in Beijing, including those in preparation for the 1990 Asian Games, and led the city's unsuccessful bid for the 2000 Summer Olympics.
Zhang was born in 1935 in Xianghe County, Hebei, Republic of China. In 1948, he moved with his father, a weaver, to Beijing. Owing to poverty, he was unable to attend school and worked as his father's assistant.[1]
With the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Beijing regained its status as the capital of China, and the new Communist government initiated a large number of construction projects. In 1951, Zhang became an apprentice rebar worker at the age of 16.[1] He and his friend, carpenter Li Ruihuan, worked together in the construction of the Great Hall of the People and solved a number of technical issues. After work, he took adult education courses at night, and eventually earned a correspondence education degree from the Renmin University of China.[1]
Zhang was named a "model worker" of Beijing in 1954,[1] and joined the Chinese Communist Party in the same year.[2] He was elected a delegate to the 4th National People's Congress,[2] and the Beijing leader Deng Tuo called him a "people's hero".[1]
From 1958 to 1966, when Wan Li served as Vice Mayor of Beijing in charge of construction, Li Ruihuan and Zhang Baifa were his key assistants and described in Chinese media as the "Heng and Ha Generals" of Wan.[1][2] However, Wan was purged when the Cultural Revolution erupted in 1966, and Zhang was also persecuted as his protégé.[1]