On November 16, 2002, a netizen calling himself "Crazy for her" (Wo-wei-yi-kuang in China's pinyin) posted the article, "Shenzhen, who has abandoned you?" on the Internet. It was about 18,000 characters long. The article soon appeared everywhere on the Internet and caused quite an emotional response. Unexpectedly, it attracted the attention of Yu Youjun, the former mayor of Shenzhen.
Shenzhen City, in south China's Guangdong Province, is one of the country's five special economic zones (SEZ) benefiting from preferential policies. But these policies will be popularized in other areas of the country in the wake of the expansion of opening-up in China, especially after WTO entry.
The article sounded a serious warning to the city, at a time of apparent prosperity, through its rich data collection and reasonable analysis that used a non-government viewpoint. The writer put forward a difficult and "latent topic" into the public arena. The article held a practical representation of the city but with strong emotion. However, it was not just an emotional rant as it was enriched with professional analysis on potential problems for Shenzhen City.
After the article became widely known, Shenzhen was a hot topic for discussion as well as the future development of the Pearl River Delta, the integrated cooperation between Shenzhen and Hong Kong and the future of Shenzhen as well.
A newspaper in southern China pulled strings to get Yu Youjun to hold a special "round table" conversation with "Crazy for her" on the morning of January 19 this year.
After holding a constructive discussion with local officials and scholars in Shenzhen, members of the research group from the State Council, China's cabinet, also arranged an interview with the writer. The action aroused broad attention in the Chinese media as it was inconceivable what the national think tank was looking on.
"Crazy for her" unveiled his original identity at the dialogue with the mayor of Shenzhen. His real name was Guo Zhongxiao and he worked as a researcher in the securities field in Shenzhen. He graduated from Wuhan University with a Bachelor's Degree in Management. He was born in 1975 and came to Shenzhen at the end of 1999.
"I read the article on the day after it was posted on the Internet. I read it three times and was deeply touched!" Yu Youjun told Guo. In spite of some things being not very accurate, it did show the writer's great affection for Shenzhen.
The conversation lasted for more than two hours. They exchanged views on the status quo of Shenzhen and its future prospects as well as on the subject of equality.
Guo said, "I would never imagine that the government would respond so quickly, which encouraged me. The motivation which made me write this article was simple. I came to Shenzhen in 1999. I love the city, so I was worried when I discovered the problems in its development, and then I wanted to write something about it."
Guo said, the conversation with the mayor eliminated many doubts in his mind and he was full of confidence for the future of Shenzhen.
At the end of the conversation, Guo was told that he was encouraged to keep a close eye on Shenzhen's future development and provide more proposals. Yu Youjun also said that the government would broaden their exchange channel to listen to the voices and critics among the public.
On July 1 this year, after signing the Mainland/Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) Premier Wen Jiabao came to Shenzhen for investigation and gave the following instructions for the city's future development: create innovative advantage, lead the way in new business opportunities, establish new development and achieve special marketable characteristics.
(China.org.cn by Wang Zhiyong, October 15, 2003)
