A stalwart proponent of the reform and opening policy after the end of the Cultural Revolution, he proposed the establishment of free trade zones in his native Guangdong Province.

He served as Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary and Mayor of Shenzhen and spearheaded the early development of the nascent special economic zone.

[1] When he visited Shantou in 1979 after decades of absence, he was so appalled by the terrible living standards in his hometown that he thought the conditions were comparable to those during the Kuomintang period which had motivated him to become a Communist in the 1930s.

[4] Wu proposed the establishment of a free trade zone in Shantou to resuscitate its economy, an idea endorsed by Xi Zhongxun, who lobbied the national government for more economic freedom for the entire province.

[3] In September 1985, Wu was appointed Chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Fifth Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and served a second term until January 1993.