One of the Eight Elders of the Party, he was considered the most leftist among them, both politically and economically. Li played a key role in blocking privatizations and maintaining state control in many sectors of the economy. He promoted classical Communist political and cultural values through his patronage of theorists such as Hu Qiaomu and Deng Liqun, and was instrumental in purging the liberals Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang. He enthusiastically advocated for military suppression of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.
After the Communists' victory in China, Li was appointed Governor and Party Secretary of his native Hubei Province from 1949 to 1954, and he also served as the commander and political commissar of the province's military garrison. Additionally, he was Vice Chairman of the PRC's Military Commission for South–Central China (overseeing military and public security forces in Guangdong, Hainan, Henan, Hubei and Hunan).
In 1954, Li joined the central leadership in Beijing and became China's Minister of Finance. He was also appointed Vice Premier for the entire period of 1954–1982.
During the Cultural Revolution, Li was a part of the February Countercurrent which criticized the Cultural Revolution for creating social disorder and undermining China's leadership.[7]: 154 Despite losing his job as Finance Minister in 1970, he nonetheless enjoyed Zhou Enlai's protection and was the only civilian official to serve without interruption alongside Zhou throughout the 1966–1976 Cultural Revolution decade.[8]: xviii In 1976, Li played an instrumental role in destroying the Gang Of Four. After the demise of the Gang, Li was appointed Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and a member of the Central Military Commission.
Post-Mao politician
When Chairman Hua Guofeng rose to leadership after the death of Mao Zedong, Li became Hua's chief economic adviser and one of his main backers, along with Generals Wang Dongxing and Chen Xilian. If Hua had been successful in his efforts to achieve supreme power, Li would have become one of the most powerful officials in China, but Li's political career stalled when Deng Xiaoping eclipsed Hua as China's "Paramount leader". For the rest of his career, Li complained that his own achievements during the brief Hua interregnum were not sufficiently recognized as the basis of the progress experienced in China during the 1980s.
Li was described as an "orthodox" or "Soviet-style" communist and was a firm believer in central planning and sociopolitical conformity, so disliked Deng Xiaoping's more radical economic reform ideas. He had in fact been largely responsible for drafting the short-lived Ten Year Plan of 1978 which attempted to build a Soviet-style economy based around heavy industry and energy production. Li's ideas enjoyed strong support among some sections of the Chinese top leadership; General Yu Qiuli and his "oil clique", for example, fully supported Li.
However, Deng quickly terminated these ideas and instituted his own "go slow" approach that involved gradually allowing the development of light industry and consumer goods.[8]: xviii [9] He also went about assigning government posts to younger men who were followers of his ideas. One of these was Premier Zhao Ziyang, whom Li strongly opposed for being too willing to import Western ideas and move away from a planned economy. According to Zhao, Li "hated me because I was implementing Deng Xiaoping's reforms, but since it was difficult for him to openly oppose Deng, he made me the target of his opposition."[8]: xviii–xix
Presidency
In 1983, after the passing of a new Constitution, Li was appointed President of China at the age of 74. Although according to the 1982 Constitution the role of President was "largely ceremonial", it recognized Li's status as a respected Party elder and a member of the CCP Politburo Standing Committee, and Li himself went on to forcefully use his still very substantial influence to support leftist policies. In 1984, Li met with U.S. President Ronald Reagan during the latter's visit to China, notably discussing the status of Taiwan with the President.[10] Li visited the United States in July 1985, the first time the head of state of the People's Republic of China made such a visit.
As the decade progressed, Deng Xiaoping, always an opponent of lifetime tenure in office, gradually convinced most of the party elders to retire. Li stepped down as president in 1988 and was succeeded by Yang Shangkun. Li was then named Chairman of the National Committee of the CPPCC. He was a strong supporter of Jiang Zemin's rise to power,[citation needed] and during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, Li was one of the hardline Party elders who pushed for a strong response to the demonstrations and supported Premier Li Peng's desire to use military force to suppress the protests.[5][11][12] Li continued to serve in government until his death in 1992, one year before his term expire.
Li died on 21 June 1992 at the age of 82, two days shy of his 83rd birthday.[15] His funeral was held on 27 June 1992 and was attended by members of the Politburo Standing Committee. After the service, Li was cremated.[16]
^Chen, Shanbin (19 May 2015). 李先念的夫人林佳媚简历 林佳楣生了几个孩子. lishiquwen. Archived from the original on 24 December 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
^Li, Xiaobing (2012). China at War: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 226. ISBN978-1-59884-415-3.
^ abcLi Xiannian (1909–1992), in Christopher R. Lew, Edwin Pak-wah Leung: Historical Dictionary of the Chinese Civil War, p.p. 120-121, Scarecrow Press, 2013
^ abGao, Hua (2018). How the Red Sun Rose: The Origins and Development of the Yan'an Rectification Movement, 1930–1945. Chinese University of Hong Kong Press. ISBN9789629968229.
^ abcMacFarquhar, Roderick. "Foreword" in Zhao Ziyang (2009). Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Zhao Ziyang. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster. ISBN1-4391-4938-0
^
Brandt, Loren; Rawski, Thomas G. (2008). China's Great Economic Transformation. Cambridge University Press. p. 102. ISBN978-0-521-88557-7. In economic policy, the most important elders were Li Xiannian and Chen Yun.
Frankel, Benjamin. The Cold War 1945-1991. Vol. 2, Leaders and other important figures in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, China and the Third World (1992) pp 191–92.
Yang, Yutong. "Li Xiannian." in China at War: An Encyclopedia (2012) p 225.