Xie Qihua, holding the reins to China's biggest steel manufacturer, is optimistic about the metal's future.

Xie Qihua has one strict rule: No interviews about her personal life. Apart from this she is happy to answer any questions about Baosteel Group and the steel industry as a whole.

The woman who manages the world's No.6 steel group with a 20-million-ton yearly output has a gentle simplicity about her. But don't let external appearances fool you; she's not known as the "iron lady" for nothing. Baoshan Iron and Steel Co. Ltd. under Baosteel Group is a listed company credited as being a stabilizing factor in the Chinese capital market, something which is widely seen as being due to Xie's no nonsense attitude and inspirational influence.

Apart from Board Chairwoman of Shanghai Baosteel Group Corporation, Xie boasts a string of other titles that include Alternate Member of the 16th Central Committee of Communist Party of China, President of China Iron and Steel Association, "Top 100 Powerful Women in the World" and "Most Powerful Business Leader of China." It's clear that this dynamic woman's efforts in the business world are not going unnoticed.

On October 31, Forbes magazine published the list of "Top 50 Businesswomen in the World 2005." Xie Qihua and Ma Xuezheng, Chief Financial Officer of Lenovo Group Limited, broke into the top 10 rankings. As if to confirm her power status, Xie was simultaneously listed by the Wall Street Journal in their "Top 50 Businesswomen to Watch" rankings, an honor of significant prestige.

Heavy Metal Woman

Xie Qihua hails from Shanghai where she was born in 1943. After graduation from Tsinghua University in 1968, she went to work as a technician at the Shaanxi Steel Plant.

In October 1978, Xie joined Baosteel when it was still under construction, heading up the technical division, rising through the ranks to become company president in 1994 and part-time board chairperson of Baoshan Iron and Steel Co. Ltd. in 2000. Since February 2003, this role model to many women has taken on the awesome responsibility of board chairwoman and general manager of Baosteel Group and board chairwoman of Baoshan Iron and Steel Co. Ltd. Today she still holds the twin positions of board chairwoman for Baosteel Group and Baoshan Iron and Steel Co. Ltd.

Since 1978, Xie has projected most of her energy towards the development of the Baosteel Group. She formed Shanghai Baosteel Group Corporation, the largest iron and steel united corporation in China, after receiving authorization from the State Council to amalgamate Shanghai Iron and Steel Plant and Meishan Iron and Steel Company with her Baosteel Group.

In April 2001, after working hard to improve the industrial concentration of Baosteel, Xie turned her attention to the strategic alliance between Baosteel Group and Capital Iron and Steel Company and Wuhan Iron and Steel Company, in the process propelling Baosteel Group into the world's top 12 steel corporations with over 10-million-ton yearly output.

New Targets

In January 2004, the Baosteel Group signed a cooperation framework agreement with France's Arcelor, an international steel maker, and Brazil's Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD), to jointly build a steel plant in Brazil. This was regarded as China's largest direct investment in projects overseas at the time and became the entry point of Baosteel into the foreign market.

On July 12, 2004, Fortune formally published the ranking of the top 500 companies in the world for 2003. Baosteel Group ranked No.372 with a 120.4 billion yuan ($14.548 billion) income in 2003, being the first Chinese manufacturer to enter the ranking of the world's top 500 companies. This year, Baosteel's ranking leapt to 309, advancing 63 places.

"Xie led the Shanghai Baosteel Group Corporation in setting record earnings and revenue and successfully pioneered a path in the trades traditionally dominated by men," said Fortune.

Xie has big plans for Baosteel during the "11th Five-Year Plan" period. "We will form the framework of our comprehensive operation system by the end of 2005 and realize our integrated operation by 2010, entering the ranks of the world's three strongest steel corporations," she said.