The finance chief who survived the Cultural Revolution, helped arrest the Gang of Four and became president; one of the “eight elders”
An orthodox, Soviet-style communist and firm believer in central planning, he blocked marketization and enthusiastically advocated military suppression of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.
A carpenter from Hubei, he was a political commissar of the Fourth Front Army and survived the destruction of the Western Route Army. He founded the New Fourth Army’s Fifth Division in Hubei during the war with Japan and led the breakout from the Central Plains at the start of the civil war. Finance minister for twenty-two years from 1954, he ran the economy and survived the Cultural Revolution at Zhou Enlai’s side. He joined the arrest of the Gang of Four in 1976 and, between Hua Guofeng’s “two whatevers” and Deng Xiaoping, argued with Chen Yun for the primacy of planning. President from 1983 to 1988, he backed the crackdown of 1989.
Also known as: Li Hsien-nien
Activities and affiliations
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1927–1949
Chinese Communist revolutionary forces (before 1949)Red Army commissar; New Fourth Army 5th Division commander
Military command -
1927–1992
Political and party leadership
- Hubei party secretary1949–1954
- Politburo member (Standing Committee 1977–1987)1956–1987
- Vice Chairman of the CCP1977–1982
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1949–1954
People’s Republic of China state institutionsGovernor of Hubei
Government and administration -
1954–1982
People’s Republic of China state institutionsVice Premier
Government and administration -
1983–1988
People’s Republic of China state institutionsPresident of the People’s Republic of ChinaHeads of state, government and party of China
Government and administration -
1988–1992
People’s Republic of China state institutionsChairman of the CPPCC National Committee
Government and administration -
People’s Republic of China state institutionsMinister of FinanceMain
Economy, finance and planning
Career Timeline
- 1927Joined the CCP and the Red Army
- 1936–1937Cadre in Zhang Guotao’s West Route Army
- 1941–1945Commander and political commissar of the New Fourth Army 5th Division in the Hubei–Henan base
- 1949–1954Governor and party secretary of Hubei
- 1954–1975Minister of Finance
- 1954–1982Vice Premier
- 1956–1987Politburo member (Standing Committee from 1977)
- 1977–1982Vice Chairman of the CCP
- 1983.06.18–1988.04.08President of the People’s Republic of China
- 1988–1992Chairman of the CPPCC National Committee
Related historical events
- 1937–1945The war with Japan and the second united frontFounder of the New Fourth Army’s Fifth DivisionDuring the war with Japan, he founded the New Fourth Army’s Fifth Division in Hubei.
- 1945–1949The Chinese Civil WarCommander of the Central Plains breakoutAt the start of the Chinese Civil War, he led the breakout from the Central Plains.
- 1958–1962The Great Leap Forward and the Great FamineFinance minister who led the 1956 anti-rash advanceWith Zhou Enlai and Chen Yun he tried to cut capital construction and was criticised in 1958.
- 1966–1976The Cultural RevolutionVeteran who joined the arrest of the Gang of FourWith Ye Jianying he persuaded Hua Guofeng to move, leading to the arrest of the Gang of Four on 6 October 1976.
- 1976–1992Reform and opening: the Deng Xiaoping eraElder arguing for the primacy of planningCautious about rapid reform alongside Chen Yun.
- 1989The Tiananmen protests and the crackdown of 4 June 1989Elder who supported the hard lineBacked martial law at the 17 May meeting.
Economic architect of the Hua Guofeng interregnum: the 1978 Ten Year Plan
After Mao Zedong's death in 1976, Li Xiannian became Hua Guofeng's chief economic adviser and, alongside Wang Dongxing and Chen Xilian, one of his principal backers. Had Hua succeeded in securing supreme power, Li would have ranked among the most powerful figures in China; instead his political career stalled when Deng Xiaoping eclipsed Hua as the "paramount leader," and for the rest of his life he complained that his achievements during the brief Hua interregnum were not recognized as the basis of the progress China saw in the 1980s.
On economic line Li stood for orthodoxy, the Soviet-style planned economy. A firm believer in central planning and sociopolitical conformity, he disliked Deng Xiaoping's more radical reform ideas and was largely responsible for drafting the short-lived Ten Year Plan of 1978, which sought to build an economy around heavy industry and energy production. That plan did not last: Deng soon terminated it and introduced a "go slow" approach that gradually permitted light industry and consumer goods, while assigning government posts to younger followers of his own ideas. One of them was Premier Zhao Ziyang, whom Li strongly opposed for being too willing to import Western ideas and move away from a planned economy. According to Zhao, Li targeted him precisely because it was difficult for Li to oppose Deng openly.
Li's planning line enjoyed support in parts of the top leadership. He played a key role in blocking marketization and in maintaining state control across many sectors of the economy, and he promoted classical Communist political and cultural values through his patronage of theorists such as Hu Qiaomu and Deng Liqun. In economic policy, the most important of the Party elders were Li Xiannian and Chen Yun.