Deng Xiaoping

Deng Xiaoping
邓小平
Deng Xiaoping in 1979
Chairman of the Central Advisory Commission of the Communist Party of China
In office 13 September 1982 – 2 November 1987
President	Post abolished Li Xiannian
Premier	Zhao Ziyang
Deputy	Bo Yibo
General Secretary	Hu Yaobang Zhao Ziyang (acting)
Preceded by	Post established
Succeeded by	Chen Yun
Chairman of the Central Military Commission
In office Party Commission: 28 June 1981 – 9 November 1989 State Commission: 18 June 1983 – 19 March 1990
Deputy	Ye Jianying Zhao Ziyang Yang Shangkun
Preceded by	Hua Guofeng
Succeeded by	Jiang Zemin
Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
In office 8 March 1978 – 17 June 1983
Preceded by	Zhou Enlai vacant (1976–1978)
Succeeded by	Deng Yingchao
Minister of Finance
In office September 1953 – June 1954
Premier	Zhou Enlai
Preceded by	Rong Zihe acting (1952–1953)
Succeeded by	Li Xiannian
Personal details
Born	(1904-08-22)22 August 1904 Guang'an, Sichuan, Qing Empire
Died	19 February 1997(1997-02-19) (aged 92) Beijing, China
Nationality	Chinese
Political party	Communist Party of China All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)
Spouse(s)	Zhang Xiyuan (张锡瑗) (1928–1929) Jin Weiying (金维映) (1931–1939) Zhuo Lin (卓琳) (1939–1997)
Children	Deng Lin Deng Pufang Deng Nan Deng Rong Deng Zhifang
Central institution membership 1981–1989: 11th, 12th, 13th Central Military Commission 1975–1987: 10th, 11th, 12th Politburo Standing Committee 1956–1967: 8th Politburo Standing Committee 1975–1987: 10th, 11th, 12th Politburo 1956–1967: 8th Politburo 1945–1987: 7th, 8th, 10th, 11th, 12th Central Committee 1978–1997: 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th National People's Congress 1959–1964: 2nd National People's Congress Other political offices held 1977–1982: Vice Chairman, Central Committee 1977–1980: 1st-ranked Vice Premier 1975–1976: Vice Chairman, Central Committee 1975–1976: 1st-ranked Vice Premier 1956–1966: Secretary-General, Central Secretariat 1964–1965: Head, Organization Department 1953–1954: Minister, Finance 1953–1954: Director, Office of Communications Military offices held 1977–1981: Vice Chairman, Central Military Commission 1977–1980: Head, General Staff Department 1975–1976: Head, General Staff Department 1975–1976: Vice Chairman, Central Military Commission 1954–1966: Vice Chairman, National Defense Commission

Deng Xiaoping
"Deng Xiaoping" in Simplified (top) and Traditional (bottom) Chinese characters
Simplified Chinese	邓小平
Traditional Chinese	鄧小平
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Dèng Xiǎopíng Wade–Giles Teng4 Hsiao3-p'ing2 Yale Romanization Deng Syauping IPA [tə̂ŋ ɕi̯àu̯pʰǐŋ] Hakka Romanization Thèn Séu-phìn Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Dahng Síu-pèhng Jyutping Dang6 Siu2-peng4 Southern Min Tâi-lô Tēng Siáu-pêng

Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary and statesman. He was the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China from 1978 until his retirement in 1989. After Chairman Mao Zedong's death, Deng led his country through far-reaching market-economy reforms. While Deng never held office as the head of state, head of government or General Secretary (that is, the leader of the Communist Party), he nonetheless was responsible for economic reforms and an opening to the global economy.

Born into a peasant background in Guang'an, Sichuan province, Deng studied and worked in France in the 1920s, where he was convinced of Marxism-Leninism. He joined the Communist Party of China in 1923. Upon his return to China he joined the party organization in Shanghai, then was a political commissar for the Red Army in rural regions and by the late 1930s was considered a "revolutionary veteran" because he participated in the Long March. Following the founding of the People's Republic in 1949, Deng worked in Tibet and the southwest region to consolidate Communist control.

As the party's Secretary General in the 1950s, Deng presided over anti-rightist campaigns and became instrumental in China's economic reconstruction following the Great Leap Forward of 1957-1960. His economic policies, however, were at odds with Mao's political ideologies and he was purged twice during the Cultural Revolution. Following Mao's death in 1976, Deng outmaneuvered Mao's chosen successor, Hua Guofeng. Inheriting a country beset with social conflict, disenchantment with the Party, and institutional disorder resulting from the leftist policies of the Mao era, Deng became the paramount figure of the "second generation" of Party leadership. Some called him "the architect" of a new brand of thinking that combined socialist ideology with pragmatic market economy whose slogan was "Socialism with Chinese Characteristics". Deng opened China to foreign investment and the global market, policies that are credited with developing China into one of the fastest-growing economies in the world for several generations and raising the standard of living of hundreds of millions. Deng was also criticized for ordering the crackdown on the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, but praised for his reaffirmation of the reform program in his Southern Tour of 1992 and the reversion of Hong Kong to Chinese control in 1997.