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People of the Revolution and the USSR
Activity
Affiliation(set)
Position
Citizenship(set)
Background
Era(set)
People of the Chinese revolution and the People’s Republic
People of the wider world
GlossaryCommunist Party of China→
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Deng Xiaoping 邓小平
The paramount leader who redirected China through reform and opening
Political and party leadership · People’s Republic of China
1904–1997
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Chen Yun 陈云
CCP elder who designed China's socialist economic system with his 'bird-cage economy' concept
Economy, finance and planning · People’s Republic of China
1905–1995
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Bo Yibo 薄一波
First finance minister and central figure of the “61 renegades” case, who returned in the reform era as a conservative elder
Economy, finance and planning · People’s Republic of China
1908–2007
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Xi Zhongxun 习仲勋
A founder of the northern Shaanxi base, purged for sixteen years, who opened Guangdong’s special economic zones
Government and administration · People’s Republic of China
1913–2002
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Hu Yaobang 胡耀邦
The reformist general secretary who rehabilitated the Cultural Revolution’s victims and freed thought; his death sparked the 1989 protests
Political and party leadership · People’s Republic of China
1915–1989
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Wan Li 万里
“If you want rice, look for Wan Li” — the reform pioneer who let Anhui’s peasants contract land to households
Agriculture and land policy · People’s Republic of China
1916–2015
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Zhao Ziyang 赵紫阳
From Sichuan’s farm reforms to general secretary, the reformer who opposed martial law in 1989 and died under house arrest
Political and party leadership · People’s Republic of China
1919–2005
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Hua Guofeng 华国锋
Mao’s designated successor — “With you in charge, I am at ease” — who arrested the Gang of Four and was eased out by Deng Xiaoping
Political and party leadership · People’s Republic of China
1921–2008
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Jiang Zemin 江泽民
The “core” plucked from Shanghai in 1989 who led post-Tiananmen China into the market economy and the “Three Represents”
Political and party leadership · People’s Republic of China
1926–2022
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Li Peng 李鹏
The premier who declared martial law in May 1989, called “the butcher of Beijing”; Zhou Enlai’s ward
Government and administration · People’s Republic of China
1928–2019
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Fang Lizhi 方励之
“China’s Sakharov”, the astrophysicist known for the 1986 student protests and his 1989 refuge in the US embassy
Science and technology · Communist Party of China
1936–2012