Bo Yibo (1908-2007)

Chinese proletarian revolutionary statesman, politician; one of the main leaders of the economic work of the People's Republic of China. Originally known as Bo Shucun, he was born in Dingxiang County of Shanxi Province. In 1922, he was admitted to Shanxi Provincial People’s (Civic) Normal (Teacher’s) School; Influenced by the May 4th New Culture Movement and Marxism, he participated in a series of revolutionary activities such as the May 30th Movement. He joined the Communist Youth League of China in the autumn of 1925 and became a member of the Communist Party of China in December of the same year. In the summer of 1926, he was appointed Deputy secretary of the and later secretary of the CPC regional committee in Northern Taiyuan (capital of Shanxi), head of the organization department of the CPC regional committee in Taiyuan and a member of the CPC care-taking committee in Shanxi Province, and engaged in organization, publicity and mass work of the CPC.

In June of the same year, he was declared as a “communist bandit” wanted by Yan Xishan, a warlord of Shanxi, and passed to the countryside of Northwest Shanxi to engage in secret revolutionary activities and worked to restore and rebuild the Party organizations. After the failed Great Revolution of 1927, he continued political activities in the rural areas of northern Shanxi. From 1929 to 1931, he was appointed as the secretary for military affairs of the CPC branch in Tianjin and chief secretary of the military committee in North China. He was in charge of soldiers' movement along the Tianjin-Tangshan, Zhengzhou-Taiyuan and Beijing-Hankou (northern half of today's Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei Province) railways and was arrested by the KMT government three times.

In June 1931, he was arrested for betraying the traitor. He waged a resolute struggle in prison and was in charge of the Party branch in prison and its secretary. He was sentenced to death in the trial between May and June in 1935, but was rescued and released from prison by the Northern Bureau of the CPC before his execution. He was sent to Shanxi in October 1936 to carry out the Anti-Japanese National United Front work, and later served as the Secretary of the Shanxi Provincial Committee for “Open Work” led by the Communist Party of China, after reaching an agreement with Yan Xishan (KMT supporter), who led a local strong army group in the Shanxi Province, in order to jointly fight against the Japanese aggressors for national salvation. After the Anti-Japanese War developed into the full-fledged situation, Yan Xishan agreed to the establishment of the "dare-to-die" corps of young volunteers in Shanxi and Bo Yibo was in charge of this work, the aim was to transform the "dare-to-die" corps into an Anti-Japanese armed force under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. After November 1937, he led the establishment of Taiyue Anti-Japanese Base Area.

In October 1939, he served as the Secretary of the Military and Political Commission of the Southeast Shanxi, in the winter of the same year, he led the New army to crush the December Incident initiated by Yan Xishan. In 1940, he served as deputy director of the Joint Administrative Agency for Southern Hebei, Taihang and Taiyue regions, and led the Party, government and army building works in the Anti-Japanese Base Area of Taiyue. In January 1941, he served as the Chief commander and Political Commissar of the Taiyue Military Region and of the Eighth Route Army, and Vice-Chairman of the newly established Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Border Region Government. Since September 1942, he served in the CPC Branch of the Taihang Base Area and became the Secretary of CPC Taiyue Base Area District Committee. He was sent to the Central Party School in Yan'an, Shaanxi Province, for training in December 1943 and served as regional CPC committee secretary in the Taihang Mountains, which spans the provinces of Hebei, Shanxi and Henan, and political commissar of the area's military command of the People's Liberation Army. During April to June 1945, he attended the Seventh National Congress of the CPC and was elected a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he served as deputy secretary of the Central Bureau of Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan region and Deputy political commissar of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region, and took part in commanding the Shangdang and Pinghan campaigns. During the War of Liberation, he served successively as the First Deputy secretary and acting secretary of the Central Bureau of the CPC in Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan region, the Second secretary of the Central Bureau of the CPC in North China (then the First Secretary), and the Political Commissar of the North China Military Region. During the War of Liberation, he participated in the drafting and formulation of “the May 4th Directive” and the “Draft of China's Land Reform Law” and led the takeover of big cities such as Pingjin and Tianjin.

After the founding of the People's Republic in October 1949, he was first secretary of the CPC's North China Bureau, political commissar of the regional military command. On the eve of the founding of New China, he participated in the formulation of the “Common Programme (the Constitutional document) of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference” and was a representative in the First Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. After the founding of the People's Republic in October 1949, he was first secretary of the CPC's North China Bureau, political commissar of the regional military command. He successively served as the member of the Central People's Government, and as a deputy in the Government Administration Council, which was later renamed as the State Council, deputy director of the Financial and Economic Commission of the State Council and the first Minister of Finance of the Central People's Government.

Under Chen Yun's direct leadership, he participated in the major struggle to stabilize prices and adjust and balance finance and economics. In September 1954, he was appointed as the Chairman of the State Construction Committee and promoted to the office of State Economic Committee chairman. In 1956, he was appointed director of the National Economic Commission and as the Vice-Premier of the State Council and participated in many important decisions of the new China's economic construction. In 1956, at the Eighth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, he was elected as a member of the Central Committee of the CPC and an alternate member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee. He was promoted in 1957 when he was named vice-premier of the State Council and director of the State Economic Committee.

During the “Cultural Revolution” he was severely persecuted. His reputation was only restored at the end of 1978. In 1979, he was re-elected Vice Premier of the State Council and in May 1982, he became a State Councilor and Director of the National Economic Reform Commission and was elected to the Central Committee of the CPC in 1982. Between 1982 and 1992, he served as the standing Deputy Head of the Central Advisory Commission (a temporary organ of the CPC) of the Central Committee of the CPC. He completely resigned from leading posts in 1992. He died of illness in Beijing on January 15, 2007 at the age of 99. His works include Reminiscences on Certain Important Decisions and Events and Selected Works of Bo Yibo, and others.