Chen Muhua

Chen Muhua ( Chinese  陈慕华 ; * 1921 in Qingtian , Zhejiang ; † May 12, 2011 in Beijing ) was a Chinese politician of the Communist Party of China (CCP), who was a candidate for the Politburo of the Communist Party of China from 1977 to 1987 , between 1978 and 1982 Vice Prime Minister and from 1982 to 1988 member of the State Council of the People's Republic of China . She was governor of the People's Bank of China from 1985 to 1988 and vice-chair of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress between 1988 and 1998 . She was also the chairwoman of the All-China Women's Association (ACFV) from 1988 to 1998 .

Life

Second Sino-Japanese War and Civil War

Chen Muhua attended middle school with the assistance of an uncle who was an officer in the Kuomintang Air Force and began assisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during the Second Sino-Japanese War (July 7, 1937 to September 9, 1945 ). For this purpose, she went to Yan'an in 1938 and did not return to her hometown until 1945 after the death of her mother. In Yan'an, she trained in military science at the Anti-Japanese People's University for Military and Politics, the president of which was later Defense Minister Marshal Lin Biao . After realizing that there was no future training for female staff officers, she wrote to Mao Zedong directly when he addressed female students asking them to train in radio engineering, medicine and nursing. A few days later, Mao approved the admission of female aspirants to the staff course, and 12 of the 100 students began their training, including Chen Muhua. Among the lecturers included well-known officers like Zhu De , Chen Yun and as a consultant for the Communist International active KPD -Funktionär Otto Braun aka Li De. She went through the same rigorous physical and military training as the male students. After completing her training, she was seconded to General Xiao Jinguang's staff as the first woman and served in various posts during the Second Sino-Japanese War, such as staff officer of the 5th Garrison Regiment of Rear Services in Yan'an, education staff officer and research officer at the regiment's headquarters. However, in 1942 she was criticized by the so-called “ rectification movement ” because of her uncle and, despite an existing pregnancy, interrogated for days. This ordeal was only ended after the later Prime Minister Zhou Enlai exerted influence . During the final phase of the Chinese Civil War from 1945 to 1949, she was transferred to the headquarters of the Rehe military region , where she was employed in the railway office, a mine and as head of a nursing school and a hospital.

Functionary in the People's Republic of China

Promotion to Vice Prime Minister and candidate of the Politburo

After the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949, Chen Muhua switched to business and in the 1950s took part in the planning for the development of the communications and transport network. During this time she was the head of the railway office and head of the department for long-term planning in the transport office, which was part of the state planning commission. After the establishment of the General Liaison Office for Foreign Economic Relations, she was responsible for economic aid for African countries. During the Cultural Revolution that began in 1966 , she was criticized as a “capitalist deviator” who belongs to a “white series of experts” and is not “red” and loyal to Mao Zedong. The reason for the criticism was that she had suggested that those who had foreign economic relations should also learn foreign languages. It was also rumored that she was a niece of Taiwanese politician and former Vice President Chen Cheng . This also led to the accusation of her brother, who in the province of Heilongjiang was active and was therefore sentenced to death.

It was not until 1970 that Chen Muhua assumed a higher office as Vice Minister for External Economic Relations, which was directly subordinate to Prime Minister Zhou Enlai. This relationship of trust led to her further rise in the years to come. She first became a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CCP) at the 10th  Congress of the Communist Party of China and was a member of this body until the 13th Congress in 1992. In November 1976 she became Minister for External Economic Relations and held this position until March 1982. At the same time, she acted as Vice-Prime Minister between March 5, 1978 and May 4, 1982. Furthermore, from March 1981 to April 1982 she was also the chairwoman of the National Family Planning Commission. She was then from May 4, 1982 to April 9, 1988 member of the State Council of the People's Republic of China , initially from March 1982 to March 1985 as Minister for Foreign Economic Relations and Foreign Trade. In order to increase exports, the party received a promise that local governments and trade units would be allowed to keep 25 percent of their foreign trade income and that 50 percent would each be divided between the local government and trade unit. This led to a significant increase in total exports and a growth in export earnings to over 30 billion US dollars . As Minister for Foreign Economic Relations and Foreign Trade, she conducted negotiations with foreign states and companies and was considered a tough negotiating partner who represented China's state and economic interests. On the XI. At the CPC Congress (August 12-18, 1977) she was elected as a candidate for the Politburo and remained at the XII after her re-election. CPC Congress (September 1 to 12, 1982) in this capacity until the XIII. CCP Congress (October 25 to November 2, 1987).

Governor of the Volksbank and chairwoman of the women's association

Subsequently, Chen Muhua was Lu Peijian's successor between March 21, 1985 and her replacement by Li Guixian on April 12, 1988, governor of the People's Bank of China . In this role, as chairman of this central bank, she was responsible for the control and regulation of the macroeconomics of the entire country. As governor of the Volksbank, she introduced closer control of the renminbi currency and of credit approvals. For example, she publicly read credit inquiries from or for the benefit of party officials at meetings, so that such inquiries fell sharply, with the personal risk of hostility from higher officials. It also monitored and strengthened the Volksbank's relationships with other banks in order to be able to fulfill its role as central bank more effectively, both to support and to supervise the other banks. It also improved the infrastructure of numerous branches and departments of the Volksbank. In the past, rural banks only used simple vehicles to transport money, after which they built and organized branches for the secure transport of money. Most important, however, was their belief that they needed to interact with other countries' financial sectors. To this end, the People's Republic of China became a member of the Asian Development Bank in 1986 and hosted its annual meeting in 1989. She herself was a member of the board of directors of the Asian Development Bank and the African Development Bank .

After retiring as governor of the People's Bank, Chen Muhua became vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on April 13, 1988, and held this office for ten years until March 5, 1998. A few months later, in September 1988, she took over from Kang Keqing as chairwoman of the All-Chinese Women's Association (ACFV), which she held until she was replaced by Peng Peiyun in May 1998. The assumption of this function came as a surprise because she had not previously worked in women's work. In the period that followed, she combined women's work with economic work and, in particular, expanded the opportunities for rural women through literacy measures in order to increase support in agriculture. Their so-called “learn to read and learn a skill” movement led to the literacy of more than ten million women and the participation of 90 million women in agricultural training courses. It also set up liaison groups at the municipal and provincial levels with the ministries of agriculture, forestry and science as well as with planning and lending facilities in order to increase practical cooperation. This led to the fact that simple farm workers played a more important role in agricultural production as well as in village and urban businesses.

Her marriage to party official and military commander Zhong Yi had four daughters.

Web links

• Lily Xiao Hong Lee: Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women , pp. 68 ff., 1988, ISBN 0-7656-0-7980
• Chen Muhua , in: Internationales Biographisches Archiv 47/1988 of November 14, 1988, in the Munzinger Archive ( beginning of article freely available)
• Entry in China Vitae

Individual evidence

1. ^ Party Congresses of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the ruling party of People's Republic of China

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Chinese. Chen is the family name here, Muhua is the first name.