Chen Yonggui
Chen Yonggui (Chinese: 陈永贵; pinyin: Chén Yǒngguì; Wade–Giles: Ch'en Yung-kuei; circa 1914 – 26 March 1986) was a Chinese politician. Though he was an illiterate peasant, he became a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party and Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China because of Mao Zedong's recognition of Chen's leadership, during the Cultural Revolution, in turning Dazhai into a model for socialist agriculture.
Chen Yonggui | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 陈永贵 | |||||||
Chen in 1966 | |||||||
| Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China | |||||||
| In office 17 January 1975 – 10 September 1980 | |||||||
| Premier | Zhou Enlai Hua Guofeng | ||||||
| Personal details | |||||||
| Born | 14 February 1915 Xiyang County, Shanxi, Republic of China | ||||||
| Died | 26 March 1986 (aged 71) Beijing, People's Republic of China | ||||||
| Political party | Chinese Communist Party | ||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 陳永貴 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 陈永贵 | ||||||
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According to official record of the Xiyang County in Shanxi Province, from 1967 to 1979, under Chen's leadership, the county completed 9,330 projects of agricultural and hydraulic infrastructure construction, extending the total arable land by 98,000 mu (around 16,144 acres), but at the cost of 1,040 casualties including 310 deaths.
After Deng Xiaoping initiated the Reforms and Opening up of China in the late 1970s, Chen gradually lost power and resigned in September 1980. He died of lung cancer in Beijing in 1986.