Hua Guofeng (or Hua Kuofeng) (1920- )

Chinese politician, leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) 1976–81, premier 1976–80. He dominated Chinese politics 1976–77, seeking economic modernization without major structural reform. From 1978 he was gradually eclipsed by Deng Xiaoping. Hua was ousted from the Politburo in September 1982 but remained a member of the CCP Central Committee.

Born near Tiayuan, in Shanxi province in northern China, Hua was the illegitimate son of a rich landlord's daughter who, after being disowned by her family, later married a communist underground labour organizer. Brought up in Shaanxi province, Hua joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1938 and fought under Zhu De, the Red Army leader, during the liberation struggle and civil war of 1937–49, serving as a political commissar and propagandist. After the establishment of the People's Republic in 1949, Hua began a steady climb up the CCP administrative ladder, working in Hunan, Mao Zedong's home province, where he specialized in agriculture and education. He entered the CCP Central Committee in 1969, was made party leader in Hunan in 1970, and joined the CCP Politburo in 1973.