Zhu Rongji

Zhu Rongji (IPA: ; born 23 October 1928) is a retired Chinese politician who served as the premier of China from 1998 to 2003 and member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1992 to 2002 along with CCP general secretary Jiang Zemin.

Zhu Rongji was born in Changsha, Hunan, in 23 October 1928 to a family of intellectuals and wealthy landowners.

According to family tradition, his family was descended from Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming dynasty.

His father died before he was born, and his mother died when he was nine.

Zhu was subsequently raised by his uncle, Zhu Xuefang, who continued to support Zhu's education.

Zhu was educated locally, and after graduation from high school he attended the prestigious Tsinghua University in Beijing.

At Tsinghua he became a student leader and took part in activities organized by the Communist Party.

Born in Changsha, Hunan, Zhu became a member of the CCP in 1949, the same year the People's Republic of China was established.

He graduated with a degree in electrical engineering and joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1949, the same year that Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic of China.

Zhu then began his career as a civil servant in the Northeast China Ministry of Industries, where he was appointed the deputy head of its production planning office.

In 1951 he became the chairman of the Tsinghua Student Union.

He worked in the State Planning Commission between 1952 and 1958, and criticized CCP leader Mao Zedong's economic policies during the Hundred Flowers Campaign in 1957, causing him to being labeled as a "rightist" in the subsequent Anti-Rightist Campaign, leading Zhu to be demoted and expelled from the CCP.

He was sent to work at a remote cadre school afterwards.

From 1952 to 1958 he worked in the State Planning Commission, where he was group head, deputy director, and deputy section chief.

In 1957, during the Hundred Flowers Campaign, he criticized Mao's economic policies, saying that they promoted "irrational high growth".

His comments led to him being subsequently identified as a "rightist" in 1958 during the Anti-Rightist Campaign, for which he was persecuted, demoted, disgraced, and thrown out of the Communist Party in January 1958 In the late 1950s his family was also persecuted for their pre-revolutionary status as wealthy landowners, and their family mansion was destroyed.

After his persecution as a rightist, Zhu was sent to work at a remote cadre school.

He was pardoned, though not politically rehabilitated in 1962, after the famine caused by the Great Leap Forward, being again assigned at the State Planning Commission.

He was purged again during the Cultural Revolution, where he was sent for re-education to a May Seventh Cadre School.

In 1962, following the famine and industrial collapse caused by the Great Leap Forward, Zhu was pardoned (but not politically rehabilitated), and assigned to work as an engineer at the National Economic Bureau of the State Planning Commission.

During the Cultural Revolution, Zhu was purged again.

From 1970 to 1975, he was sent for "re-education" to a May Seventh Cadre School, a special farm for disgraced government workers and former Party members.

During his five-year exile in the countryside Zhu was a manual laborer, raising pigs and cattle, carrying human waste, and planting rice.

During the late 1970s, Zhu's positions were relatively low-profile, but after Deng consolidated his power in the 1980s and the government became more meritocratic, Zhu was promoted to work in increasingly demanding positions.

After Mao's death in 1976 and the rise of Deng Xiaoping afterwards, Zhu was politically rehabilitated and allowed to rejoin the CCP.

He worked in the Ministry of Petroleum from 1976 to 1979, and joined the State Economic Commission, successor of the State Planning Commission, in 1979; he serves as the vice minister of the Commission from 1983 to 1987.

Shortly after Mao's death in 1976, Deng Xiaoping rose to power and subsequently initiated political reforms leading to the rehabilitation of victims of the Cultural Revolution.

From 1976 to 1979.

he worked as an engineer in the Ministry of Petroleum Industry, and served as the director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Industrial Economic Bureau.

In 1978, he was formally rehabilitated and allowed to rejoin the CCP.

In 1988, he became the mayor of Shanghai, where he pursued economic reforms.

He worked with Shanghai CCP secretary Jiang Zemin, who he succeeded as Shanghai CCP secretary in 1989, when Jiang was promoted to CCP general secretary.

Zhu became the first vice premier in 1993, serving under premier Li Peng, where he pursued further economic reforms.

He was further promoted to being premier in 1998.

In his capacity as first vice premier and premier, Zhu was regarded as the leading figure behind China's economic policy.

Zhu had a reputation as a tough but pragmatic administrator.

During his office, China's economy saw double digit growth.

Zhu was also much more popular than his predecessor Li Peng among the Chinese public.

However, Zhu's opponents stipulate that his tough and pragmatic stance on policy was unrealistic and unnecessary, and many of his promises were left unfulfilled.

Zhu retired in 2003 and has not been a public figure since.