wei was born in huayin, shaanxi, but traces his lineage to nearby pucheng county. he performed rural labour during the cultural revolution and was a leader in his local commune. in 1978, after the resumption of the national college entrance exam, wei entered shaanxi mechanics college (now xi'an university of technology) and majored in mechanical design, then was assigned to work in zhengzhou. in 1982 he became one of the leaders of the communist youth league organization at the factory he worked at, beginning his political career.