Cheng Siwei, male, of Han nationality, a native of Hunan Province, was born in June 1935. He is a senior engineer with a MBA degree and the member of China Democratic National Construction Association (CDNCA). He is at present vice chairman of the Standing Committee of National People’s Congress (NPC), chairman of China Democratic National Construction Association Central Committees, chairman of the National Association of Vocational Education of China (NAVEC), director of China Softscience Institute and the Department of Administrative Science of National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC).

    In October 1956, he graduated from East China Institute of Chemical Engineering (now ECUST) majoring in inorganic chemical engineering.
    From September 1956 to December 1957, he was a project leader and a technician at Shenyang Institute of Chemical Engineering of the Ministry of Chemical Industry.
   From January 1958 to February 1973, he was a technician, a project leader and deputy director of Tianjin Institute of Chemical Engineering of the Ministry of Chemical Industry.
   From March 1973 to June 1978, he worked as a technician at the Institute of Petrochemical Engineering of the Ministry of Chemical Industry.
   From July 1978 to August 1981, he was an engineer at the Science and Technology Department of the Ministry of Chemical Industry.
   From September 1981 to March 1984, he furthered his study at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), USA and was awarded the master degree in Business Administration (MBA).
   From 1984 to December 1988, he was chief engineer at the Science and Technology Department of the Ministry of Chemical Industry.
   From January 1989 to October 1993, he was chief engineer and vice president of the Scientific Research Institute of the Ministry of Chemical Industry.
   From November 1993 to March 1994, he was deputy chief engineer of the Ministry of Chemical Industry.
   From April 1994 to February 1997, he was vice minister of Chemical Industry and director of Committee of Economic Technology.
   In December 1995, he served as vice Chairman of China Democratic National Construction Association Central Committees.
   In December 1996, he became Chairman of China Democratic National Construction Association Central Committees.
   In March 1998, he was appointed as vice chairman of the Standing Committee of NPC.

   Professor Cheng Siwei graduated from East China Institute of Chemical Engineering with a honor diploma in 1956. After graduation, he worked as a project leader and technician at Shenyang Institute of Chemical Engineering of the Ministry of Chemical Industry.. In 1958, he was transferred to Tianjin Institute of Chemical Engineering of the Ministry of Chemical Industry and acted as deputy director of the Teaching and Research Section as well as the project leader.

    In 1973, he worked at the Institute of Petrochemical Engineering of the Ministry of Chemical Industry. In 1978, he was transferred to the Science and Technology Department of the Ministry of Chemical Industry and worked as an engineer. During this period, Professor Cheng played a leading role in the research and development of China’s abiochemical products. Besides, he was engaged in the comprehensive research on the process and application of China’s borex and chromite. In his charge was the key project of A Systematic Study on National Phosphorite Resources for the national “Seventh-five-year” plan’s scientific and technological breakthrough, which won the second prize of National Scientific and Technological Award and the first prize of Scientific and Technological Award granted by the Ministry of Chemical Industry.

    In 1981, Professor Cheng furthered his study on administrative science at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Two years later, he achieved his master degree in Business Administration. During his study in America, Professor Cheng published several dozen of papers with great theoretical significance.

    In 1984, Professor Cheng was appointed as chief engineer at the Science and Technology Department of the Ministry of Chemical Industry. In 1989, he was chief engineer and vice president of the Scientific Research Institute of the Ministry of Chemical Industry. In 1993, he was deputy chief engineer of the Ministry of Chemical Industry. In 1994, he became the vice minister of Chemical Industry with his focus upon the work of science and technology. At the same time, he was director of the Committee of Economic Technology. During this period, , he issued a considerable amount of books and papers with regard to the science and technology as well as the strategic development of the Chemical Industry in our country including “Strengthen Our Chemical Industry by Virtue of Science and Technology”; “A Preliminary Study on the Development Strategies for China’s Chemical Industry”; “A Research on the Reasonable Approaches to the Exploration of Phosphorite Resources in Our Country”; “The Strategic Trend of Development of China’s Chemical Industry”; “The Development Strategy for China’s Fine Chemical Industry” and so on. By doing so, he has made a great contribution to the Chemical Industry as well as Chemical Science and Technology of our country.

   In the early period of the 1990s, Professor Cheng entered intothe research on administrative science, economics and soft science. Up to the mid-1990s, he had already issued numerous books and papers pertinent to these domains, such as “Soft Science and Reform”; “How Can the Government Administrate the Enterprises?”; “The Analysis and Implications of the Financial Crisis in Southeast Asia”; “Virtual Economy and Financial Crisis”, “Promote the Cause of Risk Investment in Our Country in an Active and Steady Manner”; “Stimulate the Cause of Risk Investment in Our Country”; “Strengthen the Study on Soft Science and Making Scientific Decisions”; “The Status Quo and Prospect of the Administrative Science in China”; “Our Opportunities and Challenges from the Financial Crisis in Southeast Asia”. Furthermore, he put forward the concepts of “virtual economics” and “risk investment study”.

   In 1996, he was appointed as director of the Department of Administrative Science of National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC). Under his guidance, the department, in the former half of 1997, seized the initial opportunity to undertake the study on subjects such as financial mathematics, financial engineering and financial administration. When the financial crisis in Southeast Asia came to the surface, they had already assisted the national financial system to make full preparation for it. In 1998, he was appointed director of the Softscience Institute of China. Professor Cheng showed particular affection for soft science, and even took full advantage of his new role to promote the soft science development. Professor Cheng once said, “We should respect the leaders instead of flattering them, and recognize the reality instead of making any concession to it. We should oppose the mechanic method and advocate the systematic approaches, trying to improve the pertinency, feasibility and effectiveness of our research findings with a view to providing the decision-makers with the timely and reliable support”; “It is impossible for us to design a complete plan for the government and to force it to accept all the proposals, while what we are supposed to do is to uphold our government in the real sense.”

    Professor Cheng became the fourth Chairman of China Democratic National Construction Association Central Committees after Huang Yanpei, Hu Juewen and Sun Qimeng.

    In March 1998, Professor Cheng was elected vice chairman of the Standing Committee of NPC, with 2905 votes out of 2944 in the 1st Session of the 9th NPC.