20 Facts About Hao Jianxiu

Hao Jianxiu later graduated from university and was elevated to the upper echelon of Chinese politics, serving as Minister of Textile Industry in the 1980s.

Hao Jianxiu then became a member of the Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party, thus officially ranked as a "national leader", and served as vice chair of the State Planning Commission.

Hao Jianxiu was born in November 1935 into a working-class family in Qingdao, Shandong Province.

Hao Jianxiu was said to be obsessively hard working, and devoted her energy to improving productivity and reducing waste at the factory.

Hao Jianxiu took the initiative to observe and analyze the movements of the most productive workers, and propagate their techniques to others.

Hao Jianxiu studied the widespread problem of broken yarns, and discovered that breakage rate could be substantially reduced if the room was cleared of fluff.

Hao Jianxiu's work attracted the attention of Chen Shaomin, chairwoman of the All-China Textile Workers' Trade Union, and Zhang Qinqiu, Vice Minister of Textile Industry.

Hao Jianxiu's innovation was officially dubbed the "Hao Jianxiu Work Method" and it was instituted in textile mills nationwide.

Hao Jianxiu was honoured as a national model worker in 1951, at the age of 16.

In 1954, Hao joined the Chinese Communist Party and was awarded a scholarship to attend the Intensive High School for Workers and Peasants of Renmin University of China in Beijing, graduating in 1958.

Hao Jianxiu then entered East China Textile Engineering Institute in Shanghai to continue her studies.

Hao Jianxiu returned to No 6 Cotton Mill in Qingdao after graduating in 1962.

In 1964, Hao Jianxiu was elected to the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China.

Hao Jianxiu replaced starch with algae in a glue used to attach cotton threads, saving a great deal of grains.

Hao Jianxiu improved the ventilation system to allow the factory to operate at a cooler temperature, thus enhancing the working environment for both the workers and the machinery.

Hao Jianxiu then entered politics and quickly rose through the ranks.

Hao Jianxiu was selected to become head of the provincial Women's Federation in 1975.

Unlike many other cadres who rose quickly during the Cultural Revolution, Hao Jianxiu's career was not adversely affected by its end in 1976, and she continued to rise during Deng Xiaoping's reform era.

Hao Jianxiu was one of the few elite women inducted to the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, serving from 1977 until 1992.

Hao Jianxiu served in that position until 2001, when she became a standing committee member of the 9th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.