Li Peng (1928– )

Chinese communist politician, a member of the Politburo from 1985, and prime minister 1987–98. A conservative hardliner, during the pro-democracy demonstrations of 1989 he supported the massacre of students by Chinese troops and the subsequent execution of others. He sought improved relations with the USSR and favoured maintaining firm central and party control over the economy. In March 1998 Li stepped down as prime minister, being replaced by the more reformist Zhu Rongji, and was elected chairman of the National People's Congress (China's parliament). He stepped down as NPC chairman in March 2003.

Li was born at Chengdu in Sichuan province, the son of the writer Li Shouxun (who took part in the Nanchang rising in 1927 and was executed by the nationalist Kuomintang in 1930), and was adopted by the communist leader Zhou Enlai on his mother's death in 1939. He studied at the communist headquarters of Yan'an 1941–47 and trained as a hydroelectric engineer at the Moscow Power Institute from 1948. He was appointed minister of the electric power industry in 1981, a vice premier in 1983, and prime minister in 1987. In 1989 he launched the crackdown on demonstrators in Beijing that led to the massacre in Tiananmen Square, making him a popularly reviled figure.