The first person of the year in the field of the cooperative economy to be elected was the president of the Shanghai Women’s Experimental Correspondence College of Further Education, Wang Cuiyu.  She was awarded the spirit of devotion prize as “Chinese Person of the Year in the Cooperative Economy” for 2007.

The awards ceremony was solemnly held on the morning of May 31 in the Report Hall on the first floor of the Yifu Auditorium of Beijing Renmin University of China. The standing committee member of the National People’s Congress and  executive deputy director of the executive council of the Chinese Supply and Marketing Cooperatives, Zhou Shengtao; the president of Renmin University, Ji Baocheng; and leaders of the relevant departments and organizations of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Industrial and Commercial Administration General Bureau, the National Women’s Federation, the National Association for Science and Technology, were among those who attended the ceremony and awarded the prizes to the award-winners.

Since such activity to choose the award winner was started formally from July of last year, hundreds of cooperative economy organizations in over 30 provincial and municipal autonomous regions all over the country have taken part. After the list of candidates was disclosed on December 18, 2007, the number of voters all over the country reached nearly a million.  People in various circles of society gave their appraisal of the candidates and of this activity through various channels. The president of the Shanghai Women’s Experimental Correspondence College of  Further Education, Wang Cuiyu, She has insisted on establishing cooperatives as one of the bases of women’s mass education, so that they could become prosperous. She firmly believes that only if laborers, especially vulnerable groups of woman are organized and join together, can they get rid of poverty and become prosperous as well as becoming successful and useful. As a leader of the cooperative economy, she suffered hardships and undertook hard work She dedicated herself unselfishly, strove hard and introduced innovations; and all these outstanding qualities were brought up and advocated during the entire course of choosing the award winner.