He was then sent to Wuhan during the Cultural Revolution to work as a shop floor technician at the Gedian Chemical Engineering factory, where he was promoted to supervisor a few years later.
It was said that Zeng Qinghong, a major confidant of then party General Secretary and President Jiang Zemin, was fond of Wu's work, and recommended him for further elevation, resulting in his promotion to the Politburo in 1997.
[2] Thereafter, Wu was known to have cultivated good relationships with both Jiang Zemin and his putative successor Hu Jintao.
In 2002, Wu joined the Politburo Standing Committee as the head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the party's anti-graft agency.
[1] Wu Guanzheng retired from Standing Committee and Central Commission for Discipline Inspection after the 17th Party Congress in October 2007.