China's Iron Lady

Meet China's 'Iron Lady'
As Head of Shanghai Baosteel,
Xie Qihua Is the Rare Female
Leading a Big Chinese Company

Xie Qihua is known as China's "Iron Lady" -- and not just because she is one of the country's few female corporate executives. As chairwoman of Shanghai Baosteel Group Corp., she has headed a significant expansion of China's largest iron and steel company to satisfy China's demand for cars, ships and skyscrapers.

Though younger women are increasingly common in China's business world, Ms. Xie, 62 years old, is the rare female heading a major Chinese company. She stands out in the male-dominated steel industry at time when Baosteel is one of the several Chinese companies making a big push abroad.

Born in Shanghai, Ms. Xie studied engineering at Tsinghua University in Beijing, alma mater of many of China's leaders, including President Hu Jintao. She graduated in 1966, just as China was entering the Cultural Revolution, a decade of political turmoil that sent many educated Chinese to work in the countryside or in factories. Ms. Xie spent 12 years as a technician at a small steel plant in northwest China's Shaanxi province.

When China embarked on a course of economic reform, Baosteel was created to help spur the country's modernization. In 1978, Ms. Xie took a job as an engineer at the new Shanghai-based company and worked her way up the leadership chain, holding posts from chief engineer to president of a Baosteel subsidiary.

Ms. Xie recently granted a rare interview to The Wall Street Journal at Baosteel's world headquarters. Speaking from a formal, high-backed chair, she wore a dark black suit and a white, open-neck blouse, with the name Baosteel stitched into its sleeve. Ms. Xie flashed a quick smile as she spoke of her company's growth plans, China's need for steel and how being a woman makes her a different kind of manager. Some excerpts:

WSJ: In Japan, there are virtually no women at the senior levels of the top companies. You head China's largest steel company, and there are growing numbers of women making their way up in the ranks of government and business. How rare is a woman executive in China?
Ms. Xie: There are very few women managers in Japanese companies, but you can find a lot in Europe and America. In China, we have a saying: If a male worker has a female worker as his colleague, he will feel much more comfortable in working. It is easier for a woman to communicate with her workers.

WSJ: Do women have a special ability to communicate?

Ms. Xie: Yes, [she chuckles], that's right. It's very important to communicate with high-level executives to let them know the strategy of the corporation and also to make them pursue our value target -- modern management with our own unique corporate culture. Baosteel and I also have attached high importance to talent development.

WSJ: In America, when a woman is at the top of the company, she becomes a role model for the rest of the professional environment and oftene speaks out on the issues and encourages the companies to advance more women. Has that happened in your case?

Ms. Xie: Yes, you are right. In China, the society, including the central government, is encouraging companies to develop their female workers. In China, the woman has the equal right to enjoy a high level of education. The number of women doing postgraduate work and with Ph.D.s is relatively high. Let me take other two examples, Vice Premier Wu Yi, and Qinghai Province Governor Song Xiuyan.

WSJ: Baosteel employs 100,000 workers and last year made 21 million tons of steel. How do you manage such a big company?

Ms. Xie: Baosteel started in 1978. It imported Western technology. If you visit the factory, you will see it is managed automatically by computers. Research-and-development work is also centralized so we can use our vast technology to develop our business. Now, we have developed our own technology.

WSJ: While you graduated from one of the best universities in China, you spent a decade working in a remote part of China as a low-level technician at a steel plant. How did your career finally hit the fast track?
Ms. Xie: The economic growth in China not only presents big opportunities for personal development but also corporate development. Baosteel started construction in 1978 with the open-door policy and brought in technology.

WSJ: What did you want to do when you were younger?

Ms. Xie: I didn't expect to become the leader of a steel company because my major was civil engineering. I intended to contribute to the development of the whole country. Because I was a civil engineer, I was told I should add tiles and bricks to the construction of a building....China is in a very good development stage, we should grasp this good opportunity.

WSJ: How do you manage the balance of development both at home and abroad?

Ms. Xie: Now, as a Chinese company, we have a very good chance to go abroad to develop our business. One of Baosteel's objectives is to become a multinational company.

WSJ: In the U.S., there is an emphasis on finding a balance between hard work and a manager's personal life. (Ms. Xie isn't married.) Can you give us an idea of how you balance the great responsibility of managing such a large company? What do you do in your personal life to refresh your mind? Or are you just like many Americans, bringing your work home?

Ms. Xie: Baosteel has a very good system for balancing the manager's life with working. Actually, Baosteel was the first corporation in China to implement a five-day workweek. Workers have vacation available.

But as the top executive of the company, I have very little time for myself. Sometimes I also have to attend a lot of other meetings on the weekend outside the company, such as in Beijing.

WSJ: In that limited time, what do you do to escape work?

Ms. Xie: Sometimes I play table tennis to relax.