Li Peng

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Li Peng was born as Li Yuanpeng on 20 October 1928 at his family house in the Shanghai French Concession. He was the son of Li Shuoxun, an early CCP revolutionary executed by the Kuomintang in 1931. After meeting Zhou Enlai in Sichuan, Li was raised by Zhou and his wife, Deng Yingchao. In 1941, when Li was twelve, Zhou sent him to Yan'an, where he studied until 1945. At seventeen, in 1945, he joined the Chinese Communist Party. In 1948, Li was sent to study at the Moscow Power Engineering Institute, majoring in hydroelectric engineering, and graduated in 1954. When he returned to China in 1955, he took part in technical and management work in the power industry. He played a leading role in the construction of the Tuhe Powerplant in Tangshan and the Gaojing Powerplant in Beijing. On 4 October 1974, he was struck by a vehicle while riding his bicycle home from work. In 1976, Li was dispatched to affected regions of the Tangshan earthquake as head of power restoration efforts. He advanced politically after the ascent of Deng Xiaoping, serving as Vice Minister and later Minister of Power, and as vice minister of Water Conservancy and Power between 1982 and 1983. In 1983, he became a vice premier. In 1985, he was named minister of the State Education Commission and was elected to the Politburo and the Party Secretariat. In 1987, after the 13th Party National Congress, Li became a member of the Politburo Standing Committee.

Reader's Guide

Li Peng's significance lies in his long tenure as premier during a period of major economic and political transition in China. On 24 November 1987, after Premier Zhao Ziyang was promoted to CCP General Secretary, Li became acting premier, and was formally elected premier in March 1988. As premier, he became the most visible representative of the CCP who backed the use of force to quell the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. During the demonstrations, Li used his authority as premier to declare martial law and, in cooperation with Deng Xiaoping, declared military law and the suppression of the protestors, ultimately resulting in a massacre. Li advocated a largely conservative approach to reform and opening up, placing him at odds with General Secretary Zhao Ziyang, who fell out of favor in 1989. After Zhao was removed from office, Li promoted a conservative socialist economic agenda but lost influence to incoming vice premier Zhu Rongji, and was unable to prevent the increasing market liberalization of the Chinese economy. In 1998, Li was succeeded by Zhu Rongji as premier and became the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. During his time in office, he helmed the controversial Three Gorges Dam project. Li died at the age of 90 in Beijing on 22 July 2019.

Did You Know?

• Li Peng was born as Li Yuanpeng at his family house in the Shanghai French Concession, now at 545 Yanan Road, Huangpu District in Shanghai.
• He was raised by Zhou Enlai and his wife Deng Yingchao after his father, an early Communist revolutionary, was executed by the Kuomintang in 1931.
• On 4 October 1974, Li was struck by a vehicle while riding his bicycle home from work.
• In 1976, Li was dispatched to affected regions of the Tangshan earthquake as head of the power restoration efforts.
• Li Peng and his family managed a large Chinese power monopoly, the State Power Corporation of China, which the Chinese government broke up after his term as premier expired.