Home > Cold War > Zhou Enlai Biography

Born March 5, 1898
Huaian, Kiangsu province, China
Died January 8, 1976
Peking, People's Republic of China

Premier and foreign minister of
People's Republic of China

Zhou Enlai was a leading figure of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from its founding in 1949 to 1976. He served as premier (head of state) throughout this lengthy time period and was also the PRC's foreign minister from 1949 to 1958, but remained the country's leading foreign affairs expert for decades. As a result, Zhou was the most visible PRC official and gained great respect from other world leaders for his superb negotiating skills.

Zhou was responsible for all of communist China's foreign policy through most of the Cold War and much of the PRC's domestic policy as well. The Cold War was an intense political and economic rivalry from 1945 to 1991 between the United States and the...