During the course of the China Reform and Development Summit Forum, held on September 27 in Beijing, Qiu He, now the Party chief of Kunming City, was awarded the title of Outstanding Contributors to China's Reform.

The forum gathered more than 200 high-level officials, business leaders, media figures and academic representatives across the country. They discussed the valuable experience and significant achievements China has gained over the past 30 years, and also the direction for future reform and development in China.

In 1996, Qiu He was appointed Vice Mayor of Suqian City and Party Secretary of Shuyang County, Jiangsu Province. He began with a comprehensive initiative to reform the local economy and took the lead in practicing the public presentation of cadres before they took office, a policy which won extensive attention. The personnel management practice was later popularized throughout the country.

In 2000, Qiu was named Vice Party Secretary of Suqian and eight months later Party Secretary of the city. He continued to apply strong policies to the reform of governmental functions. To increase outside investment, he required that one-tenth of local government employees leave their posts in pursuit of investment, some with target quotas of up to 5 million yuan.

In a move to reform the economy, in a so-called "sell-all" policy that began in 2001, he sold off state-owned enterprises, schools, township clinics, and local hospitals. The move was quite controversial at that time.

He encouraged the development of private pre-school, middle and vocational school education. Through his reforms to the education system, the local high school attendance rate increased from 48 percent to 89 percent, well above the province's average.

In the field of medical treatment, competitive medical services were introduced to the market. The government rapidly expanded available social, medical, and sanitary resources to guarantee disease prevention and health protection. Huaihai Economic Zone in Suqian City soon became a leading area in the field of medical and health service development.

In January 2006, Qiu was elected Vice Governor of Jiangsu Province. This was soon followed by his transfer from Jiangsu to Yunnan Province. In December 2007, he was named Secretary of the Kunming Municipal Party Committee. One of his first moves in Kunming was to publish all the phone numbers of the leading Party and government officials. The Chinese media declared that "Public phone lists signal a new era in China's local governance".

Li Yining, Pan Yue, He Zhenliang, Yuan Longping, Zhong Nanshan and Yang Liwei were also awarded with the honor of reform contributors.

Professor Li Yining is one of China's best-known economists. He was one of the first to propose economic reform. He has also served as a mentor for many who backed reform, contributing to the stunning economic growth.

Pan Yue is Vice Minister of Environmental Protection. Part of a new generation of outspoken Chinese senior officials, Pan has given rise to a tide of environmental debate, attracting enormous attention and controversy.

He Zhenliang, known as China's Mr. Olympics, is the Honorary President of the Chinese Olympic Committee, and former Vice President of the International Olympic Committee.

Yuan Longping is a Chinese agricultural scientist and educator, known for developing the first hybrid rice varieties in the 1970s. His "hybrid rice" has since been grown in dozens of countries in Africa, America, and Asia – providing a robust food source in high famine risk areas. He is called "The Father of Hybrid Rice".

Dr Zhong Nanshan is an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. During the 2003 outbreak of SARS, Dr Zhong, together with his team, oversaw the admission of all critical SARS cases in Guangdong Province into his institute. He made out a management protocol known as "3 propers" (proper use of corticosteroids, proper application of non-invasive ventilation and proper addressing of secondary infections). Zhong also appealed for international cooperation and the promotion of common sense in the fight against SARS.

Yang Liwei is China's first citizen in space. His launch into orbit aboard Shenzhou V on October 15, 2003 marked the entry of China into an elite group, consisting only of Russia and the United States, who had the capability to launch human beings into outer space.

(China.org.cn by Zhou Jing, September 29, 2008)