Founder of modern Chinese geology who launched the gold yuan reform as premier in 1948
Born in Zhejiang in 1889, he earned a doctorate in geology at the Catholic University of Leuven, the first Chinese to hold a Western doctorate in the subject. He founded the National Geological Survey with Ding Wenjiang, led the study of Peking Man and is regarded as the founder of modern Chinese geology. From 1932 he led the National Defense Planning Commission, renamed the National Resources Commission in 1935, which brought most heavy industry under state control; from 1938 he was minister of economy in charge of wartime industry, and that year he joined the Kuomintang. In May 1948 he became the first premier under the new constitution and launched the gold yuan, but resigned in November amid financial chaos and hyperinflation. Though listed by the Communists as a war criminal, he returned to the mainland in 1951, sat on the CPPCC and died of illness in Beijing in 1971.
Also known as: Wong Wen-hao
Activities and affiliations
-
1914–
Republic of China state institutionsDirector of the National Geological Survey
Science and technology -
1938–1947
Republic of China state institutionsMinister of Economy
Economy, finance and planning -
1938–1949
Political and party leadership
-
1948
Republic of China state institutionsPresident of the Executive YuanHeads of state, government and party of ChinaMain
Political and party leadership
Career Timeline
- 1913Doctorate in geology from the Catholic University of Leuven
- 1914Professor at the Geological Institute; co-founded the National Geological Survey
- 1928Helped set up the Cenozoic Research Laboratory for the study of Peking Man
- 1931.07Acting president of Tsinghua University
- 1932Secretary general of the National Defense Planning Commission
- 1938.01–1947Minister of Economy
- 1938.05Joined the Kuomintang
- 1945–1947Vice-President of the Executive Yuan
- 1948.03Founding academician of Academia Sinica
- 1948.05.25–11.26President of the Executive Yuan
- 1948.08Introduced the gold yuan
- 1949.02–05Secretary General of the Presidential Office
- 1951Returned to the mainland
- 1954Member of the CPPCC National Committee