Western-educated, affable and full of confidence, Wang Wei is the Chinese government's public face for the 2008 Summer Olympics.
As secretary-general of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games, or Bocog, the 57-year-old former college professor is one of eight vice presidents serving under committee Chairman Liu Qi. But Mr. Wang has been the most voluble Chinese official promoting the message that the Olympics will change China for the better -- cleaning up everything from its human-rights record to its polluted skies.
Mr. Wang, who earned a master's degree in English literature from Rutgers University in New Jersey, helps run a 2,000-strong agency that acts as a liaison among the various government agencies that must cooperate in the colossal task of preparing China's capital for the Games. It also coordinates with dozens of sponsors and suppliers that are using the Games to market everything from cars to noodles to the world's most populous nation. Analysts say these Games are likely to be the most commercially successful to date, raising an estimated $1.5 billion in sponsorships in cash and in kind from sponsors including Volkswagen AG, Coca-Cola Co. and General Electric Co.
After leaving academia, Mr. Wang rose through the ranks to become a senior civil servant in the Beijing city government, before taking his current role. He sat down with The Wall Street Journal in Bocog's office tower to discuss the public-relations ramifications of the Games, a recent ticketing fiasco and ways of navigating Chinese bureaucracy. Excerpts:
WSJ: With just months to the Olympics, what are some challenges that remain?
Mr. Wang: For one thing, there is the environment -- a lot of attention and concern about the environment. All we have to do is to let the world know how much effort government has made to improve environment. The campaign started in 1993 before [China's] first bid for the Games. We've invested $12.2 billion to improve air quality, and there's been improvement. We are still working very hard toward the goal, but as we go along it becomes difficult because it's not just Beijing but the whole of northern China working together. We've set up 27 monitoring stations among all the sports venues to make sure the air quality is good enough for athletes.
Also, there's lots of media coming to town. I consider it a good thing. It's been almost 30 years since the opening up and economic reforms, [but] the world still doesn't know much about Beijing, about China, The Olympics provides an opportunity for the world to focus on China for 16 days. I think not only Beijing but the whole country will benefit from this opening up. That will be the big achievement of the Olympic Games.
But there's challenges -- I think by my estimation over 30,000 media will be coming. They are everywhere, they see good things and not so good things. They are going to report on that. If some of the not-very-satisfactory phenomena [are] shown or recorded, I think it's OK. It is a reality of hosting the Olympics. It is something we should improve.
WSJ: In 1993, Beijing lost in its first bid to host an Olympic Games. Tell us a little more about what it was like to bid for the second time.
Mr. Wang: We narrowly missed last time because the international environment was not very good. It was 1993, only four years after 1989. [In June of that year, government forces violently cracked down on democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square, killing hundreds, perhaps thousands.]
For the second time, we employed a lot of international [public-relations] agencies. We had Weber Shandwick from the U.S., Bell Pottinger from the U.K. We had consultants from Australia, the U.K. and the U.S. We tried to find a good stance to convince the [International Olympic Committee] members and international media, to show that helping Beijing win the Games would be a good thing for the world, not just for China.
WSJ: How did you handle the pressure the second time?
Mr. Wang: You know, during the bid in Moscow, when I learned the whole process was going to be broadcast, I was scared to death. I thought, 1.3 billion people watching. If you win, OK. If you lose, people pass around the tape and say, 'OK, here's what you said wrong.' I prepared a whole day and night. My eyelids were heavy, I wanted to sleep and rest, but my mind was working, going through all the possible questions.
WSJ: What's your workday like now?
Mr. Wang: I try and keep it a little bit more normal. I work six days a week, keep Sunday for exercise. I don't like to use evenings and Sunday unless necessary.
I like to cut short people if [what they're saying is] irrelevant -- that's not typical [for China]. That's why we can do more things in a day. I hate people reading messages and text messaging during meetings. If I see it, I cut it short, tell them, 'Don't do that, OK?'
WSJ: In an operation of this size there are always glitches. In October, Bocog was forced to abort a first-come, first-serve policy for Olympic tickets after massive demand crashed the site within hours of its launch. What happened with ticketing? Why did it go wrong?
Mr. Wang: I think Ticketmaster [which was handling the sales in a joint venture with a Chinese partner] is the world's biggest and most experienced agency -- they did the Athens Games -- but they underestimated the overwhelming demand of the Chinese people. The lesson learned from this is, we used international norms for Olympic Games, and IOC policy, but we have to understand the ground in China. The lesson applies to other things.
WSJ: The Chinese government wants to present a really positive view of China. Could such an approach lead to negative news being swept under the carpet?
Mr. Wang: I think for some time now, we've been trying to give the accurate truth of what's going on. There's no point in hiding. From my point of view, as long as you find the reason, there's a way to improve it.
受过西方教育、和蔼可亲、充满自信的王伟是2008年北京奥运会的官方“招牌面孔”。
57岁的王伟曾是位大学教授，目前担任北京奥组委秘书长，也是北京奥组委主席刘淇领导下的八位执行副主席中的一位。但他却是北京奥组委官员中最健谈的一位，积极地向世界传达着这样的信息：奥运会将使中国变得更好，中国将对从人权记录到空气污染等各种问题进行全面治理。
王伟曾获新泽西州罗格斯大学(Rutgers University)英国文学硕士学位。在首都北京备战奥运这项艰巨的系统工程中，各个政府部门必须协同工作，而他所在的拥有2,000多人的北京奥组委正是各政府部门之间的联络机构。此外，北京奥组委还要与数十家赞助商和供应商协作，他们借助奥运会向中国这个世界上人口最多的国家销售从汽车到面条等各种产品。分析人士表示，北京奥运会很可能是迄今为止在商业上最成功的一届奥运会，从大众汽车(Volkswagen AG)、可口可乐公司(Coca-Cola Co.)和通用电气公司(General Electric Co.)等赞助商那里所得的赞助现金和实物估计总共有15亿美元。
王伟离开学术界之后，经过层层提拔，成为北京市政府里的一位高级公务员，之后被任命为北京奥组委执行副主席兼秘书长。在北京奥组委的办公楼里，他接受了《华尔街日报》记者的采访，讨论了北京奥运会的公关成果，前不久发生的售票系统瘫痪，以及与各组织机构打交道的方法。
采访摘录如下：
《华尔街日报》：距离奥运会开幕只有几个月时间了，目前还面临着哪些问题？
王伟：其中一个就是环境问题。人们非常关注环境，也有不少的担忧。我们只要让世界知道中国政府为改善环境已经做出了多少努力。1993年中国第一次申奥前，环境治理工作就启动了。我们已经投入了122亿美元资金用以改善空气质量，并且已经取得了成效。现在我们仍在努力朝着目标前进，但随着工作不断地展开，难度也变得越来越大，因为环境问题不仅仅涉及到北京，还需要整个中国北部地区协同起来。在全部奥运场馆间共建了27个监测站，以确保空气质量达到比赛要求。
除此之外，还会有很多的媒体来到北京。我认为这是件好事。中国改革开放已经30年了，但世界对北京、对中国的了解仍很少。奥运会提供了一个机会，在16天的比赛期间，整个世界的焦点都会集中到中国。我认为不仅北京，整个中国都会因此而受益。这将是北京奥运会最大的一项成就。
但是挑战仍然存在。根据我的估计，会有三万家媒体来北京。他们无处不在，会看到好的方面，也会看到一些不太好的方面。他们会对这些进行报导。如果一些不尽如人意的现象被报导了，我认为也未尝不可。这是举办奥运会的一个现实问题，是我们应该提高的地方。
《华尔街日报》：1993年，北京在首次申奥的时候失败了。请谈谈第二次申奥的情况。
王伟：第一次申奥我们以微弱劣势失败了，因为当时的国际环境不是很好。当时正是1993年，距离1989年才只有四年。
第二次申奥的时候，我们聘请了很多的国际公关机构，有美国的Weber Shandwick、英国的Bell Pottinger，以及来自澳大利亚、英国和美国的顾问。我们努力找到一个好的立场来说服国际奥委会成员和国际媒体，表明帮助北京赢得主办权不仅对中国，而且对世界来说都是件好事。
《华尔街日报》：第二次申奥的时候，你是如何处理当时面对的压力的？
王伟：在莫斯科申奥的时候，当我听说整个过程都要进行直播，我害怕的要命。我想，13亿人都在看着我们。如果赢了还好；如果输了，人们会把录像带传来传去，说，“你就是在这个地方说错话了。”我用整个白天和晚上进行了准备。我困得眼皮直打架，想去睡觉、休息。但是我的大脑还在工作着，还在细想着所有可能碰到的问题。
《华尔街日报》：现在你的工作日是如何安排的？
王伟：我努力保持正常一些。我每周工作六天，周日的时候做做运动。除非迫不得已，否则我不喜欢在晚上和周日工作。
如果人们说的话与讨论的内容无关，我喜欢打断他们。这在中国并不常见。正是因为如此，我们每天才能完成更多的工作。我讨厌人们在开会的时候收发短信。如果我看到有人这么做，就会停下来，对他们说，“别这样，好吗？”
《华尔街日报》：规模如此庞大的工程总是难免出现一些纰漏。去年10月，因门票需求巨大，导致售票网站在开始售票几小时之内就瘫痪了，北京奥组委因此被迫中止了“先到先得”的售票政策。售票系统出了什么问题？为什么会出现这样的问题？
王伟：我认为Ticketmaster（该公司与中国合作伙伴成立的合资公司负责售票系统）是世界上最大、经验最丰富的公司，曾为雅典奥运会提供售票系统。但他们低估了中国人对奥运门票的巨大需求。从此得到的教训是，北京奥运会采用了国际标准，并遵循国际奥委会政策，但是我们必须了解中国的实际情况。其他事情也同样如此。
《华尔街日报》：中国政府希望展示中国真正积极的一面。这样会不会造成负面新闻被掩盖起来？
王伟：我认为这段时间里，我们一直都在努力对工作进展的事实进行准确的披露。没有必要藏着掖着。我认为，只要找到了问题的根源，就会有改善的方法。