Li Xiannian

Li Xiannian
李先念
Li in 1954
3rd President of the People's Republic of China
In office 18 June 1983 – 8 April 1988
Premier	Zhao Ziyang Li Peng
Vice President	Ulanhu
Leader	Deng Xiaoping
Preceded by	Liu Shaoqi (as State Chairman) Ye Jianying (as Head of State)
Succeeded by	Yang Shangkun
5th Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
In office 6 April 1988 – 21 June 1992
Preceded by	Deng Yingchao
Succeeded by	Li Ruihuan
Other office held Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party In office 19 August 1977 – 15 June 1982 Chairman Hua Guofeng Hu Yaobang Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China In office 27 September 1954 – 10 September 1980 Premier Zhou Enlai Hua Guofeng 3rd Minister of Finance In office 29 September 1954 – 22 June 1970 Premier Zhou Enlai Preceded by Deng Xiaoping Succeeded by Yin Chengzhen
Member of the National People's Congress
In office 15 September 1954 – 25 March 1988
Constituency	Hubei At-large
Personal details
Born	(1909-06-23)23 June 1909 Hong'an County, Hubei, Qing China
Died	21 June 1992(1992-06-21) (aged 82) Beijing, China
Political party	Chinese Communist Party (joined in 1927)
Spouse(s)	Shang Xiaoping (尚小平) (div)[1] Lin Jiamei
Children	4, including Li Xiaolin[2]
Chinese name
Chinese	李先念
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Lǐ Xiānniàn Wade–Giles Li Hsien-nien

Li Xiannian (pronounced [lì ɕjɛ́nnjɛ̂n]; 23 June 1909 – 21 June 1992) was a Chinese Communist military and political leader, president of the People's Republic of China from 1983 to 1988 under paramount leader Deng Xiaoping^[3] and then chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference from 1988 until his death. He was a full member of the Politburo from 1956 to 1987, and of its Standing Committee from 1977 to 1987.^[4][5]

Li worked as an apprentice carpenter in his teenage years to support his family. He joined the Communist Party in December 1927 and became a soldier in the Chinese Red Army. After studying at the Military–Political University and the Central Party School, he became an influential and successful military commander during the Second Sino–Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War, distinguishing himself in the Huaihai campaign.^[4]

After the PRC was established, he served as Governor and Party Secretary of his native Hubei Province from 1949 to 1954, and then joined the central leadership in Beijing, serving as Minister of Finance (1954–1970) and Vice Premier (1954–1982). He supported Mao Zedong's designated successor, Hua Guofeng, and was named Vice Chairman of the Party (1977–1982).

One of the Eight Elders of the Party, he was considered the most leftist among them, both politically and economically. Li played a key role in blocking privatizations and maintaining state control in many sectors of the economy. He promoted classical Communist political and cultural values through his patronage of theorists such as Hu Qiaomu and Deng Liqun, and was instrumental in purging the liberals Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang. He enthusiastically advocated for military suppression of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.