Zhao Ziyang

Zhao Ziyang
赵紫阳
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
In office 1 November 1987 – 24 June 1989 acting from 16 January 1987
President	Li Xiannian Yang Shangkun
Premier	Li Peng
Preceded by	Hu Yaobang
Succeeded by	Jiang Zemin
Premier of the People's Republic of China
In office 10 September 1980 – 24 November 1987
President	Post abolished Li Xiannian
Deputy	Deng Xiaoping Wan Li
Preceded by	Hua Guofeng
Succeeded by	Li Peng
Personal details
Born	(1919-10-17)17 October 1919 Hua County, Henan
Died	17 January 2005(2005-01-17) (aged 85) Beijing, People's Republic of China
Resting place	Zhao's family residence in Beijing
Nationality	Chinese
Political party	Communist Party of China
Spouse(s)	(1918–2013)
Children	(eldest son) (second son) (third son) (fourth son) (daughter) (fifth son)
Central institution membership 1987–1989: 13th Central Military Commission 1980–1989: 11th, 12th, 13th Politburo Standing Committee 1979–1989: 11th, 12th, 13th Politburo 1972–1989: 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th Central Committee  ?–1989: 7th National People's Congress Other offices held 1987–1989: Vice Chairman, State Central Military Commission 1987–1989: Vice Chairman, Party Central Military Commission 1981–1982: Vice Chairman, Central Committee 1980–1989: Leader, Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs 1975–1980: Governor, Sichuan Province 1975–1980: Party Committee Secretary, Sichuan Province 1974–1975: Governor, Guangdong Province 1974–1975: Party Committee Secretary, Guangdong Province 1965–1967: Party Committee Secretary, Guangdong Province

Zhao Ziyang
"Zhao Ziyang" in Simplified (top) and Traditional (bottom) Chinese characters
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhào Zǐyáng Wade–Giles Chao4 Tzu3-yang2 IPA [ʈʂâu̯ tsɨ̀.i̯ǎŋ] Southern Min Hokkien POJ Tiō Chí-iông

Zhao Ziyang (pronounced [ʈʂâu̯ tsɹ̩̀i̯ǎŋ]; 17 October 1919 – 17 January 2005) was a high-ranking politician in China. He was the third Premier of the People's Republic of China from 1980 to 1987, Vice Chairman of the Communist Party of China from 1981 to 1982 and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China from 1987 to 1989.

As a senior government official, Zhao was critical of Maoist policies and instrumental in implementing free-market reforms, first in Sichuan, subsequently nationwide. He emerged on the national scene due to support from Deng Xiaoping after the Cultural Revolution. He also sought measures to streamline China's bureaucracy and fight corruption, issues that challenged the Party's legitimacy in the 1980s. Zhao Ziyang was also an advocate of the privatization of state-owned enterprises, the separation of the Party and the state, and general market economic reforms. Many of these views were shared by then-general secretary Hu Yaobang.

His economic reform policies and sympathies to student demonstrators during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 placed him at odds with some members of the party leadership, including Premier Li Peng, former President Li Xiannian and Party elder Chen Yun. Zhao also began to lose favour with paramount leader Deng Xiaoping. In the aftermath of the events, Zhao was purged politically and effectively placed under house arrest for the next 15 years.