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Wan Li (December 1916 – 15 July 2015) was a Chinese Communist revolutionary and politician who served as First Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China from 1983 to 1988 and the 5th
Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress The chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress is the Speaker (politics), presiding officer of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC), which is the permanent body of the National People's Cong ...
from 1988 to 1993. Wan joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1936 and led revolutionary and wartime resistance activities in his native Shandong province. After the founding of the communist state in 1949, Wan served in a series of government ministries, then worked as a member of the municipal leadership in Beijing. He was purged during the
Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...
, but was eventually rehabilitated and returned to work as party chief of
Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...
province, where he led the implementation of successful agrarian reforms centered on the household-responsibility system. In the 1980s, Wan became one of the leading moderate reformers in China's top leadership, advocating for constitutional reforms, the strengthening of legislative institutions, and the abolition of 'lifelong-terms' of top political leaders. He was named head of the national legislature (i.e., the NPC) in 1988. He retired in 1993. Wan Li was a supporter of
Socialism with Chinese characteristics Socialism with Chinese characteristics (; ) is a set of political theories and policies of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that are seen by their proponents as representing Marxism adapted to Chinese circumstances. The term was first establ ...
and even influenced it with his policies.


Early life and education

Wan Li's former residence, located in Dongping County, Shandong Province. Now it has become a patriotic education base. Wan was born to an impoverished family in Zhoucheng Subdistrict, Dongping County,
Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...
province. Wan aspired to become educated from a young age, and was admitted to a provincial-run teacher's college located in
Qufu Qufu ( ; zh, c=曲阜) is a county-level city in southwestern Shandong province, East China. It is located about south of the provincial capital Jinan and northeast of the prefectural seat at Jining. Qufu has an area of 815 square kilometers, ...
in 1939. After joining the school, Wan founded a book club to study Marxist–Leninist works. After the student-led December 9th Movement, revolutionary and anti-Japanese fervour spread across campuses all over China, motivating youth to take up the cause for the country's future. Wan returned to his native Dongping County and became a part-time teacher while devoting most of his time to the revolution and agitating for resistance against Japanese invaders. Wan Li joined the
Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...
(CCP) in 1936,Editorial Board, ''Who's Who in China: Current Leaders'' (Foreign Language Press, Beijing: 1989), p. 662 and served in party administrative positions, many in
Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...
province, from county level on up. Wan led the party organization in his native Dongping County in between 1937 and 1938, Propaganda and Organization Department director in Taixi Prefecture in 1938–40, deputy head of propaganda for Western Shandong regional CCP committee in 1940, and Secretary of the party's 2nd, 7th and 8th Prefectural Committees in the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Border Area in 1940–47. In the last phases of the Civil War, Wan Li served as Secretary-General of the Border Area committee (1947–49).


Early People's Republic

After the establishment of the
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
in 1949, Wan was named deputy director of the finance department of the Nanjing Municipality Military Control Committee, director of the Economic Department and Chief of the city Construction Bureau, all within a few months. He served as deputy director of the CCP South-west Military and Administrative Committee's Industrial Department (1949–52), where he would have encountered
Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping also Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Teng Hsiao-p'ing; born Xiansheng (). (22 August 190419 February 1997) was a Chinese statesman, revolutionary, and political theorist who served as the paramount leader of the People's R ...
, who was leading the southwest bureau at the time. In 1952 Wan was transferred to begin work for the central authorities in Beijing. He shortly became the Vice Minister of Architectural Engineering (1953) followed by the post of Minister of Urban Construction (1955). From 1958, he was a secretary of the
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
Municipality CCP Committee (under First Secretary Peng Zhen) and vice mayor; in 1959 he took a leading role in directing the construction of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in preparation for the 10th anniversary celebrations of the founding of the People's Republic of China.


Post-Cultural Revolution

During the
Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...
, like many of his contemporaries, Wan was purged and sent into solitary interrogation, and then took part in " re-education through labour". Wan was restored to his Beijing posts in May 1973. He was named Minister of Railways in January 1975 (to April 1976) and 1st Vice Minister of Light Industry in 1977. In May of the same year, he took over
Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...
Province as CCP 1st Secretary (i.e., provincial party leader) and Chairman of the Revolutionary Committee (i.e., government). In Anhui, Wan Li was responsible for the earliest post-Mao agrarian reform. He instituted the household-responsibility system whereby farmers divided communal lands and assigned them to individual farmers. Wan faced resistance from conservatives in Beijing who criticized his reforms as not sufficiently socialist or ineffective. Nevertheless, he pressed on with the reforms. His six guidelines (the ''Anhui liu tiao'') relaxed controls on trading as well, permitting farmers to sell surplus produce independently. Peasants were allowed to grow vegetables on 3/10th of a ''mu'' and did not have to pay taxes on wheat and oil-bearing plants grown on private plots. The Anhui agricultural reforms were heralded as brilliant innovations by the central government. The system implemented by Wan was followed up with reform programs led by Zhao Ziyang in Sichuan province. Along with Xi Zhongxun,
Hu Yaobang Hu Yaobang (20 November 1915 – 15 April 1989) was a Chinese politician who was a high-ranking official of the People's Republic of China. He held the Leader of the Chinese Communist Party, top office of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from ...
, and other reformists in charge of implementing wide-ranging reforms, Wan was seen as a pioneer who made significant contributions to the national reform programmes in the 1980s, winning praise from paramount leader
Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping also Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Teng Hsiao-p'ing; born Xiansheng (). (22 August 190419 February 1997) was a Chinese statesman, revolutionary, and political theorist who served as the paramount leader of the People's R ...
. Wan Li was immortalised by the folk saying "If you want to eat rice, look for Wan Li."


National politics

Wan was elected to the 11th Central Committee in 1977, and to the Central Committee Secretariat in February 1980, where he worked under General Secretary
Hu Yaobang Hu Yaobang (20 November 1915 – 15 April 1989) was a Chinese politician who was a high-ranking official of the People's Republic of China. He held the Leader of the Chinese Communist Party, top office of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from ...
. In April he was made Vice Premier to fellow agrarian reformer Zhao Ziyang, and in August Wan was named Minister of the State Agricultural Commission. He was also made a member of the Standing Committee of the
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s United front (China), united front system. Its members adv ...
in September of that year. Wan served as the chair of the Five Disciplines, Four Graces and Three Loves activity committee. Wan Li became the Vice Premier in 1984 and the
Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress The chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress is the Speaker (politics), presiding officer of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC), which is the permanent body of the National People's Cong ...
in 1988. Wan supported Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang in arguing to spread the household responsibility system nationwide in 1979–81. He also supported Zhao in curtailing the Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign in the mid-1980s. After the January 1987 resignation of General Secretary Hu Yaobang, Wan Li was named to the interim "five man group", which essentially acted as an interim
Politburo Standing Committee The Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), officially the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is a committee consisting of the top leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) an ...
. Wan was one of seven individuals shortlisted as candidates for formal entry into the supreme body, due for confirmation at the 13th National Congress of the party in the autumn of 1987. However, the appointment was opposed by party elder Bo Yibo and others conservatives such as Yao Yilin. According to Zhao Ziyang's memoirs, Yao said that Wan had "offended too many people" and criticized Wan as "the type to stir up trouble when things go wrong." Deng heeded the conservatives' opposition to Wan entering the party's foremost decision-making body, but instead suggested that Wan take on the office of the Chairman of the National People's Congress. The legislative position, while not part of the party's apex, was still a prestigious office that carried a full 'national leader' rank. Wan initially was unsure about his taking up the office, telling Deng that he was not qualified enough since he did not have a background in law. Deng replied that Wan "could always learn n the joband find people to assist him." Wan was duly elected as the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress in 1988, succeeding Peng Zhen. He maintained this position until he retired in 1993.


1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre

Wan was on an official visit to Canada and the United States during the
1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre The Tiananmen Square protests, known within China as the June Fourth Incident, were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, lasting from 15 April to 4 June 1989. After weeks of unsuccessful attempts between t ...
. As Wan was seen as one of the representative figures of the CCP's reformist wing, leading voices within the party's top leadership, particularly retired elders, believed that Wan was sympathetic to the students and would rally behind Zhao Ziyang, the leading reformer in China's top leadership. On May 12, Wan Li left on a scheduled working visit to Canada and the United States. On May 13, the protests entered its
hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance where participants fasting, fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are ...
stage. Some of the protesters planned a demonstration to welcome him back to Beijing in late May. Moreover, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, which Wan chaired, had the constitutional power to convene the National People's Congress in full session. Such an extraordinary session of the body was, legally speaking, the top authority of the state, and was seen by some scholars and political insiders as a constitutionally-sanctioned way to break the deadlock. Moreover, 57 members of the Standing Committee of the NPC had petitioned for a special convening of the body to resolve the Tiananmen crisis. On May 21, Deng met with then Shanghai party chief
Jiang Zemin Jiang Zemin (17 August 1926 – 30 November 2022) was a Chinese politician who served as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1989 to 2002, as Chairman of the Central Mil ...
. In addition to hinting that Jiang was slated to "take on a bigger role" in the days ahead, Deng asked Jiang to discuss the ongoing situation with Wan Li to ensure the latter's support for the decision to crack down. Upon returning from his visit on the afternoon of May 25, Wan's plane was diverted to
Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
, where he was greeted by Jiang Zemin and others who tried to persuade him to take a stand against the student protests. While in Shanghai, Wan learned that his former ally Zhao Ziyang had already essentially been ousted from power, and that Deng and party elders had planned to use military force to put an end to the protests. Wan, fully aware that he did not have the military power nor personal clout necessary to fight the decision regardless of his 'true' political leanings, expressed support for the leadership on May 27, and specifically endorsed the provisions for martial law announced by conservative figures Premier Li Peng and President
Yang Shangkun Yang Shangkun (3 August 1907 – 14 September 1998) was a Chinese Chinese Communist Party, Communist military and political leader, president of the People's Republic of China from 1988 to 1993, and one of the Eight Elders that dominated the par ...
. Apart from asking his secretary to draft a memo clarifying his position, Wan did not make any further statements of support for the position of the leadership, suggesting that he may well have acquiesced to the decision rather than being earnestly in support of it.


Retirement and death

Tomb of Wan Li and his wife Bian Tao Wan Li gradually faded from public view after 1993, making occasional appearances but otherwise heeding his own view that retired politicians should not interfere with the workings of the party and state. Bo Yibo died on January 15, 2007, leaving Wan Li as the sole living pre-revolutionary party elder. Many historians have also classified Wan Li as one of the "
Eight Immortals The Eight Immortals () are a group of legendary ''Xian (Taoism), xian (immortals)'' in Chinese mythology. Each immortal's power can be transferred to a vessel () that can bestow life or destroy evil. Together, these eight vessels are called the ...
" of the Communist Party, i.e., elders with revolutionary experience who were called upon to make the most important decisions facing the Communist Party after Deng Xiaoping became paramount leader in 1978. Wan Li died on 15 July 2015 in Beijing of an unspecified illness.Wan Li
/ref> In his official obituary, Wan Li was extolled as "an excellent Party member, a time-tested fighter for the communist cause, and an outstanding proletarian revolutionary, statesman and leader of the Party and the state." It also said that Wan was "loyal to the party, loyal to the people, and loyal to the socialist cause for his entire life .. and that "he observed party discipline and preserved party unity". Wan's official obituary numbered over 2,200 Chinese characters, half of the length of the obituary of second-generation stalwarts Deng Xiaoping and
Chen Yun Chen Yun (13 June 1905 – 10 April 1995) was a statesman of the Chinese Communist Party and the People's Republic of China. He was one of the most prominent leaders during the periods when China was governed by Mao Zedong and later by Deng Xia ...
, but far higher than the word count of the obituaries of former leader Hua Guofeng, and one-time Politburo Standing Committee members Liu Huaqing, and Huang Ju, who were each given a mere few hundred words. The announcement of his death was the fifth item reported on the evening ''
Xinwen Lianbo ''Xinwen Lianbo'' () is a Chinese daily news television programme produced by state-owned television broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV). It is shown simultaneously by all local TV stations in mainland China, making it one of the world ...
'' program; the announcement was made in the form of a "joint statement" by the top organs of the party and state, which is generally reserved for only the highest-ranked leaders. On July 22, 2015, Wan's memorial service was held at the
Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery The Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery () is Beijing's main resting place for the highest-ranking revolutionary heroes, high-ranking government officials and, in recent years, individuals deemed of major importance due to their contributions to soc ...
. On that day, flags flown at half-mast at Tiananmen Square and at government buildings. President and Communist Party General Secretary
Xi Jinping Xi Jinping, pronounced (born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China), chairman of the Central Military Commission ...
and the entire
Politburo Standing Committee The Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), officially the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is a committee consisting of the top leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) an ...
, except for Yu Zhengsheng, attended the memorial service. Former Chinese President
Hu Jintao Hu Jintao (born 21 December 1942) is a Chinese retired politician who served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2002 to 2012, the president of China from 2003 to 2013, and chairman of the Central Military Comm ...
also attended. He died just one month before former Secretary
Wei Jianxing Wei Jianxing (; January 2, 1931 – August 7, 2015) was a senior leader in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), most active during the 1980s and 1990s. He successively held a number of important offices, including member of the Politburo Standing C ...
died on August 7, 2015.


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Obituary - Bloomberg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wan, Li 1916 births 2015 deaths Burials at Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery Chairmen of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Chinese Communist Party politicians from Shandong Ministers of railways of the People's Republic of China Delegates to the 2nd National People's Congress Delegates to the 3rd National People's Congress Delegates to the 4th National People's Congress Delegates to the 5th National People's Congress Deputy mayors of Beijing First vice premiers of the People's Republic of China Governors of Anhui Members of the 12th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 13th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the Standing Committee of the 7th National People's Congress People's Republic of China politicians from Shandong Politicians from Tai'an