Bai Xiangguo (; June 1918 – 7 August 1991) was a Chinese military officer and politician. A career officer of the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

with the rank of colonel, he was sent to the Ministry of Foreign Trade to restore order after the chaos of the early

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated go ...

, and served as Minister of Foreign Trade from July 1970 to October 1973. He visited dozens of countries in that capacity, and led the first official Chinese delegation to France in 1971 after the two countries established diplomatic relations, which was also the PRC's first minister-level delegation to visit Western Europe. He was dismissed in 1973 and returned to the military to serve as Deputy Director of the

PLA General Logistics Department People's Liberation Army General Logistics Department (GLD; ) is a former chief organ under China's Central Military Commission. It organizes and leads the logistics construction and oversees housing, supplies, hospitals, and barracks of the People ...

Wartime career

Bai was born in June 1918 into a poor peasant family in

Penglai, Shandong Penglai, formerly known as Dengzhou or Tengchow, is a district belonging to the prefecture-level city of Yantai, Shandong Province, in the People's Republic of China. It lies on the northwest corner of the Shandong Peninsula on the southern co ...

. During the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Thea ...

, he enlisted in the

Eighth Route Army The Eighth Route Army (), officially known as the 18th Group Army of the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China, was a group army under the command of the Chinese Communist Party, nominally within the structure of the Chinese ...

in 1937 and joined the

Communist Party of China The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...

in February 1938. He soon transferred to the

New Fourth Army The New Fourth Army () was a unit of the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China established in 1937. In contrast to most of the National Revolutionary Army, it was controlled by the Chinese Communist Party and not by the ruling Ku ...

and followed commander

Li Xiannian Li Xiannian (pronounced ; 23 June 1909 – 21 June 1992) was a Chinese Communist military and political leader, President of the People's Republic of China (''de jure'' head of state) from 1983 to 1988 under Paramount Leader Deng Xiaoping and ...

to the

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The pr ...

border region to establish a Communist base area. From December 1942 he served in the tenth branch school of

Counter-Japanese Military and Political University Counter-Japanese Military and Political University (), also commonly known as Kàngdà () and Kangri Junzheng University (), was a comprehensive public university located in Yan'an, Shaanxi, the headquarters of the Chinese Communist Party during t ...

. In October 1944 he became deputy political commissar of a regiment. He fought in many battles in the Henan-Hubei region including Yujiadian, Zhutangdian, Xinjie, Dawushan, Pingba, and Lidian. During the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on main ...

, Bai served in the Zhongyuan Military Region and fought in the famous

Zhongyuan Breakout The Campaign of the North China Plain Pocket, also called the Breakout on the Central Plains () by the Chinese Communist Party, was a series of battles fought between the nationalists and the communists during the Chinese Civil War, resulting i ...

campaign in June 1946. In August 1947, his unit was reorganized into the 12th Column of the Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu Field Army and fought its way back to the

Dabie Mountains The Dabie Mountains () are a major mountain range located in central China. Running northwest-to-southeast, they form the main watershed between the Huai and Yangtze rivers. The range also marks the boundary between Hubei Province and its neighb ...

region. After February 1948, he became a regimental political commissar and then director of the political department of the First Division of Hubei Military District. He participated in many battles during the

's takeover of Hubei and

Southwest China Southwest China () is a region in the south of the People's Republic of China. Geography Southwest China is a rugged and mountainous region, transitioning between the Tibetan Plateau to the west and the Chinese coastal hills (东南丘陵) and ...

People's Republic of China

After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Bai served in a series of military positions including Director of Organization of the Political Department of the Hubei Military District, Political Commissar of the 123rd Division of the 41st Army, and Deputy Director of the Political Department of the

Guangzhou Military Region The Guangzhou Military Region was from 1955 to 2016 one of the People's Liberation Army PLA Military Regions, located in the south of the People's Republic of China. In May 1949, the Central China (Hua Zhong) Military Region (MR) was formed. In Ma ...

. He was awarded the rank of colonel in 1955. When the

began in 1966, China descended into chaos. In July 1970, Bai, until then a career military officer, was appointed as Minister of Foreign Trade to restore order to the ministry, which had been attacked by the

Red Guards Red Guards () were a mass student-led paramilitary social movement mobilized and guided by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 through 1967, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a Red Guard le ...

. During his three-year tenure, he visited dozens of countries including France, Romania, Peru, and Burma, and signed trade agreements with them. In October 1971, he led China's first official government delegation to France after the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two nations, It was also the PRC's first minister-level delegation to visit Western Europe. He was instrumental in building the new

Canton Fair The Canton Fair or China Import and Export Fair, is a trade fair held in the spring and autumn seasons each year since the spring of 1957 in Canton (Guangzhou), Guangdong, China. It is the oldest, largest, and the most representative trade fair in ...

exhibition hall to host the enlarged trade fair in autumn 1972. In October 1973, Bai was replaced by

Li Qiang Li Qiang (; born 23 July 1959) is a Chinese politician and a senior leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), serving as the second-ranking member of the 20th CCP Politburo Standing Committee, behind CCP general secretary Xi Jinping. From ...

as Minister of Foreign Trade. In a meeting with an American delegation led by

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the preside ...

Jiang Qing Jiang Qing (19 March 191414 May 1991), also known as Madame Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary, actress, and major political figure during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976). She was the fourth wife of Mao Zedong, the Chairman of ...

revealed that the reason for his dismissal was because the "handsome" Bai "failed to withstand the poisonous snake that took the form of a beautiful woman". He returned to the military and served as Deputy Director of the

and Director of its Political Department. Bai retired in November 1987. He died on 7 August 1991 in Beijing, at the age of 73.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bai, Xiangguo 1918 births 1991 deaths People's Republic of China politicians from Shandong Chinese Communist Party politicians from Shandong Politicians from Yantai Chinese colonels People's Liberation Army officers People from Penglai, Shandong People of the Republic of China