Published : 2025-01-08
Zhou Enlai (周恩來), the first Premier of the People's Republic of China (PRC), who was highly respected, passed away on January 8, 1976, in Beijing at the age of 78.
Born in 1898 in Huai'an, east China's Jiangsu Province, Zhou studied in Japan in his early years.
In 1919, he participated in the "May Fourth Movement" in Tianjin. In 1920, he went to France and Germany for work-study programmes. Zhou joined the Communist Party of China in 1921.
After returning to China, he participated in and led various revolutionary struggles.
After the founding of PRC, Zhou Enlai served as Premier. He devoted his entire life to the prosperity of the country, the rise of the Chinese nation, and international relations.
The Chinese authority describes Premier Zhou Enlai as a great Marxist, a great proletarian revolutionary, politician, military strategist, diplomat, one of the main leaders of the Party and the State, one of the main founders of the People's Liberation Army, a founding father of the PRC, and an important member of the first generation of the Communist Party of China (CPC) central collective leadership with Comrade Mao Zedong (毛澤東) at its core.
Due to his diligent work, frugality, strict self-discipline, and care for the masses, his reputation remains high in the Chinese society to this day, and he is also called the "good Premier of the people".
