Li Jishen

Li Jishen (1885 -1959), originally named Jichen, alias Renchao, a native of Cangwu, Guangxi Province; one of the principal founders of the RCCK, chairman of the 1st to 4th RCCK Central Committees

He served as instructor at the Beijing Army University from 1914 to 1921, as chief of staff at the 1st Division of the Guangdong Army in 1921, as division commander and chief of staff at the 1st Army in 1923, and took up the post as chief of the Wuzhou Office for Handling War Aftermath in May 1924. In August 1925, he was appointed army corps commander when the troops under his command were reorganized into the 4th Army of the National Revolutionary Army, and in October he led his troops participating in the Second Eastern Expedition as commander of the 2nd Column. He was elected as executive member of the Central Committee at the Second National Congress of the Kuomintang in January 1926, and appointed as vice-president of the Huangpu Military Academy in April. During the Northern Expedition, he held the posts as chief of staff of the National Revolutionary Army and rear garrison commander-in-chief of the Northern Expeditionary Army and as chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Government. Beginning in 1927, he served as a member of the Nanjing National Government, chief of general staff of the Military Committee and chairman of the political sub-committee in Guangzhou. After Chiang Kai-shek betrayed the revolution in 1927, he once supported Chiang and gave the nod to the "party purge". In 1929, he was appointed standing committee member of the Troops Reorganization and Reduction Committee and director of its Department of General Affairs. In March 1929, he was sacked from all his posts and placed under house arrest in Nanjing by Chiang Kai-shek. After he regained his liberty in 1931, he was elected executive member of the 4th Kuomintang Central Committee in November, appointed as general superintendent of training of the Kuomintang army in December and as Director of the General Affairs Department of the Military Committee in February 1932. In 1933, he participated in instigating the Fujiang Incident and establishing the People's Revolutionary Government of the Republic of China and became chairman of the government and chairman of the military committee. Meanwhile, he was again expelled from the Party and stripped of all his posts by the Kuomintang Central Committee. In 1935, he founded the National Revolutionary League of China in Hong Kong, whose chairmanship was assumed by him.

After the July 7 Incident in 1937, he was appointed as deputy director of the Party and Administrative Council in the War Zones under the Kuomintang Military Committee following the restoration of his Kuomintang membership. He served as, among others, director of the General Affairs Office (Guilin) of the Military Committee in 1940 and as chairman of the Council of War of the National Government, member of the Military Committee and the Kuomintang Central Supervisory Committee in 1943. In 1946, he joined He Xiangning and others in sponsoring the formation in Hong Kong of the Kuomintang Association for Promoting Democracy and he assumed the chairmanship. In 1947, he was expelled from the Kuomintang for the third time. In January 1948, he initiated in Hong Kong the formation of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang and took on the chairmanship. In May 1948, he and some other democrats in Hong Kong made a positive response to the CPC May 1 Call in a jointly signed telegram to Mao Zedong, Chairman of the CPC Central Committee. He left Hong Kong for northeast China liberated areas toward the end of 1948 and attended the Preparatory Meeting for the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the First CPPCC Plenary Session in Beijing in September 1949. From November 1949 to October 1959, he was chairman of the 2nd to 4th RCCK Central Committees, vice-chairman of the 1st to 3rd CPPCC National Committees. From September 1954 to October 1959, he was vice-chairman of the Standing Committees of the 1st and 2nd National People's Congresses (NPC).

 He Xiangning

He Xiangning (1878 -1972), female, originally named Jian, alias Ruijian, born in Hong Kong, a native of Nanhai, Guangdong Province; one of the principal founders of the RCCK, chairwoman of the 4th RCCK Central Committee

She went to Japan in 1902 and began to study the year after, first at a Tokyo women's university, then at a normal school for women. In 1905, she joined the Chinese Revolutionary League, becoming its first woman member. She graduated from a fine arts school for women in 1912 and returned to China in February 1911 to participate in the Revolution of 1911. She went into exile to Japan after the Second Revolution failed in 1913. She joined the Revolutionary Party of China in 1914 and subsequently took an active part in the campaign against Yuan Shikai and the campaign to uphold the Provisional Constitution, both led by Dr. Sun Yat-sen. She held the office as director of the Women Department of the Kuomintang Central Committee in 1924. In January 1925, she came to Beijing to look after Sun Yat-sen who was critically ill and signed on Dr. Sun Yat-sen's will as one of the witnesses. In 1925, she successively sponsored the organization of the Preparatory Meeting to Mobilize Aid to the Haifeng Peasant Self-Defense Corps, the Institute for Training Ambulance Girls from among Family Members of Armymen and the Chinese Federation of Women from All Walks of Life. She was elected as executive member of the Second Kuomintang Central Committee in January 1926 and participated in the Northern Expedition in the same year, playing a part in sponsoring the establishment of the Institute of Women Movement. After the April 12 coup d'etat in 1927, she resigned from all her posts in the Kuomintang and engaged herself in anti-Chiang Kai-shek struggle. In 1928, she and Liu Yazi, Jing Hengyi and Chen Shuren, among others, formed a poetry and painting society where they recited verses and did paintings to express their aspirations. She traveled to Southeast Asia in the autumn of 1929 to sell her paintings in order to raise funds for the Zhong Kai Agriculture and Industrial School that had financial difficulties, then went to Europe and sojourned in Britain, France, etc. She returned to China after the September 18th Incident in 1931, published, together with Song Qingling and a few others, Our Views on the Current Situation denouncing the disastrous policy of putting "internal pacification before resistance to foreign invasion" pursued by Chiang Kai-shek, and threw herself into the movement of resistance against Japan for national salvation. During the period when the fight against Japanese invasion was raging in the Shanghai-Wusong area, she sold her books and paintings to buy military articles for the 19th Route Army and worked together with Song Qingling to found hospitals for wounded soldiers. In August 1935, she put her signature on a statement positively responding to the August 1 Declaration issued by the Communist Party of China. In 1937 she joined the Federation of All Circles for Resistance to Japanese Aggression and for National Salvation and was elected as council member; in July she initiated in Shanghai the formation of the Chinese Women's Association in Support of the Fight against Japan and assumed the chairwomanship. She joined Song Qingling and a few others in organizing the China Defense League in the summer of 1938, participated in Guilin in the deliberation and planning for establishing an organization of the democrats in the Kuomintang in July 1942, and joined the efforts to found the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang in 1946. In January 1948, she participated in founding the RCCK in Hong Kong and was elected member of its Standing Committee. In April 1949, she left Hong Kong for the liberated areas in the north to attend the Preparatory Meeting for the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the First CPPCC Plenary Session and was appointed a member of the Central People's Government. From April 1955 to September 1972, she successively served as vice-chairwoman of the 1st to 3rd NPC Standing Committee. From February 1956 to August 1960, she successively served as vice-chairwoman of the 3rd and 4th RCCK Central Committee. In August 1960, she was elected chairwoman of the 4th RCCK Central Committee.

She was vice-chairwoman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, chairwoman of the China Artists Association, chairwoman of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee of the Government Administration Council; deputy to the 1st National People's Congress; vice-chairwoman of the 2nd and 3rd CPPCC National Committee; honorary chairwoman of the 1st to 3rd National Congress of the All-China Women's Federation; standing committee member of the 1st and 2nd RCCK Central Committee. Among her works are: Recollection of Sun Yat-sen and Liao Zhongkai, Collection of Poems and Paintings by He Xiangning and Collection of Essays by He Xiangning.

 Zhu Yunshan

Zhu Yunshan (1887-1981), a native of Liuan County, Anhui Province; studied at the School of Law and Political Science and the Police School in Anhui; one of the founders of the RCCK, chairman of the 5th RCCK Central Committee

In 1906, he enrolled at the Police School in Anhui and joined the Restoration Society. In 1907, he lent Xu Xil¨an a hand in the incident of assassinating Anhui Provincial Governor En Ming and was arrested and taken to the execution ground to watch condemned prisoners being beheaded. He joined the Chinese Revolutionary League some time later, participated in the 1911 Revolution in 1911 and was appointed as an envoy, in central Anhui, charged with the duty of luring the warlords into submission and concurrently as commander of the Central Anhui Corps of the Youth Army. After the Youth Army was dissolved, he returned to his native place to establish the Songliao School. In 1916, he organized the uprising against Yuan Shikai, but the uprising plan leaked out and he was arrested. He regained his liberty after the death of Yuan Shikai. In 1918, he returned to Liuan to establish the Anhui Provincial No. 3 A-Class Agricultural School and he himself taught moral cultivation. In 1921, he launched in Anqing the newspaper Comments, with himself as editor-in-chief, which exposed warlord Ni Daolang's election scandal. In 1924, he joined the Chinese Kuomintang and was elected as Standing Committee member of the Kuomintang Anhui Provincial Headquarters. In 1925, he joined the Communist Party of China. In 1926, he served as executive member of the Kuomintang Anhui Provisional Headquarters. After the April 12 coup d'etat in 1927, he articulated his opposition to Chiang Kai-shek through an open telegram, as a result, he was stripped of his party membership by the Kuomintang Central Committee and listed as wanted. Subsequently he participated in the August 1 Nanchang Uprising.

In the winter of 1927, he joined Bai Wenwei and a few others in organizing the Party Defense League in Shanghai. In 1928, after detaching himself from the CPC, he joined the Provisional Action Committee of the Kuomintang of China led by Deng Yanda and served as a secretary, continuing his anti- Chiang Kai-shek activities. After the September 18 Incident in 1931, he sponsored the formation of the Huangpu Revolutionary Alumni Society. After the Fujian Incident in 1933, he participated in the negotiations, between the Fujian People's Government and the Red Army, for a common fight against Chiang Kai-shek and Japan. In 1935, he joined Li Jishen and Cai Tingkai, among others, in initiating the formation of the National Revolutionary League of China. They kept in touch with Feng Yuxiang, Fang Zhenwu, Ji Hongchang and a few others, urging them to fight Japan. In 1938, he served as general affairs director of the Anhui Provincial Committee for General Mass Mobilization. In 1941, he joined the 10-member group for preparing the establishment of the San Min Zhu Yi Comrades' Federation. In 1944, he joined the China Democratic League, serving first as executive member of its central committee, then as standing committee member and vice-chairman of its Domestic Relations Committee. In October 1945, he was appointed as an executive secretary of the SMZYCF. On the eve of the founding of the RCCK in 1947, having been entrusted by Li Jishen and a few others, he planned to go to Shanghai, carrying with him a letter written on a piece of white silk, to meet, among others, Tan Pingshan and Liu Yazi and solicit their opinions on the preparation and founding of the RCCK, but was hindered by the dangerous situation. In January 1948, he participated in Hong Kong in initiating the formation of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang and became standing committee member of the RCCK Central Committee and director of its Organization Department. In April 1948, he and Li Jishen and a few others issued a statement on behalf of the RCCK Central Committee, making a positive response to the CPC May 1 Call, and in December they left Hong Kong for the liberated areas in the north. In January 1949, he joined Li Jishen in publishing a declaration of 55 people on the current situation; in September, he attended the First Plenary Session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. From March 1978 to April 1981, he was vice-chairman of the 5th CPPCC National Committee. From July 1979 to April 1981, he was vice-chairman of the 5th NPC Standing Committee. From October 1979 to April 1981, he was chairman of the 5th RCCK Central Committee.

He was member of the People's Supervisory Committee of the Government Administration Council; deputy to the 1st to 3rd NPCs, member of the 4th NPC Standing Committee; member of the 1st CPPCC National Committee, member of the 2nd to 4th CPPCC Standing Committees; Standing Committee member of the 1st to 4th RCCK Central Committees and director of the Organization Department.

 Wang Kunlun

Wang Kunlun (1902-1985), originally named Ruyu, alias Luzhan, pen name Tai Yu, a native of Wuxi, Jiangsu Province; graduated from the Department of Philosophy, Peking University in 1921; joined the RCCK in 1949, served as chairman of the 5th and 6th RCCK Central Committees

From 1917 to 1921, he studied at the Peking University, first at the Department of Chinese Language and Literature, then at the Department of Philosophy. He participated in the May 4 Movement for a time. In 1922, he joined the Chinese Kuomintang. In 1924, he first taught at Hangzhou No. 1 Secondary School, then returned to Beijing and taught at the Girls High School Attached to Beijing Normal University and another one or two schools. Being wanted by the Northern Warlords Government after the Beijing Massacre of March 18, 1926, he fled southward to Chaozhou, served as political instructor at the Chaozhou Branch of the Huangpu Military Academy, and then went on the Northern Expedition along with the troops, successively serving as Propaganda Section chief of the Political Department and acting head of the Political Department. After the April 12 coup d'etat in 1927, he resigned his post as secretary-general of the Political Department at the General Headquarters of the National Revolutionary Army, initiated the creation of Zai Zao She in Shanghai. In 1932, he served as legislator of the Legislature of the National Government. In 1933, he joined the Communist Party of China. In August 1935, he and Qian Junrui and a few others called a meeting in Wuxi attended by core members of the Reading Associations in Shanghai, Ninbo and Wuxi, at which the question of establishing the Anti-Japanese National United Front was discussed and a decision was made to start preparations for establishing a Nanjing Association of All Circles for National Salvation on the basis of the Nanjing Reading Association with a view to spurring the Kuomintang and the Communist Party to cooperate and fight in unity against Japan. In November 1935, he was elected as alternate executive member of the 5th Kuomintang Central Committee. After the Southern Anhui Incident in 1941, he joined Wang Bingnan, Qu Wu and a few others in initiating the formation of the China Democratic Revolutionary League. In 1943, he joined Tan Pingshan, Chen Mingshu and a few others in initiating the formation of the San Min Zhu Yi Comrades' Federation, launching vigorous anti-Japanese democratic activities within the Kuomintang. After the victory of the War of Resistance against Japan, he served successively as legislator of the National Government, alternate executive member of the Kuomintang Central Committee, director-general of the Sun Yat-sen Institute for Advancement of Culture and Education and executive council member of the Sino-Soviet Cultural Association, etc. In the second half of 1947, due to the persecution inflicted on him by the Kuomintang, he went to the United States on a study tour, assisting Feng Yuxiang in founding the Chinese League for Peace and Democracy, USA. In January 1949, he came back to attend the Preparatory Meeting for the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the First CPPCC Plenary Session and was elected as Standing Committee member of the CPPCC National Committee; in November, he was elected, at the 2nd Congress of Democrats in the Chinese Kuomintang, as Standing Committee member of the RCCK Central Committee and director of the Propaganda Department. In 1954, he was elected as member of the First NPC Standing Committee. From 1954 to 1964, he served as vice-mayor of Beijing. In 1956, at his proposal the journal Unity was launched by the RCCK Central Committee with the presidentship assumed by him. From July 1979 to August 1985, he was vice-chairman of the 5th and 6th CPPCC National Committees. From October 1979 to December 1981, he was vice-chairman of the 5th RCCK Central Committee. From December 1981 to August 1985, he was chairman of the 5th and 6th RCCK Central Committees.

He was a member of the Government Administration Council; member of the 1st to 4th NPC Standing Committees; executive council member of the 1st RCCK Central Committee, Standing Committee member of the 2nd to 4th RCCK Central Committees and director of the Propaganda Department and acting chairman of the 5th RCCK Central Committee. Among his works are On the Characters in the Dream of the Red Chamber and Qing Wen (co-written with his daughter Wang Jinling), a Kunqu Opera play. The Collection of Wang Kunlun contains all his representative works.

 Qu Wu

Qu Wu (1898-1992), alias Jing Wen, a native of Weinan, Shanxi Province; graduated from the Department of Political Science, Peking University in 1926; joined the RCCK in 1952, served as chairman of the 6th RCCK Central Committee

From 1912 to 1917, he studied at the Huashan Academy. In 1917, he enrolled at Chengde Secondly School in Xian. During the May 4 Movement in 1919, he was president of the Federation of Students in Schools at and above Intermediary Level in Xian. In late June 1919, he went to Shanghai via Beijing to attend the First Congress of the National Students' Federation as one of the representatives of the Shanxi students' federation. During his stopover in Beijing, all schools and organizations in the city were taking collective action in support of the propositions on the Shandong Issue raised by petition groups from all walks of life in Shandong. He took an active part in the action. Utterly enraged by the hypocritical, ambiguous and perfunctory attitude of Xu Shichang, President of the Northern Warlords Government, he knocked his head against the wall in the Presidential Palace, his blood splattering over the wall and the floor. Toward the end of June, he attended the First Congress of the National Students' Federation in Shanghai. In August, he went back to Shanxi as Sun Yat-sen's private representative, where he called a meeting of the provincial students' federation to disseminate the Three People's Principles, namely, Nationalism, Democracy and the People's Livelihood. He was regarded by the Shanxi authorities as the most dangerous element among the students in Shanxi and forced to leave Shanxi. In 1922, he was admitted to Peking University, and shortly afterward joined the Gong Jin She. In 1923, he joined the Chinese Socialist Youth League. In 1925, he joined the Communist Party of China. In January 1926, he was elected as alternate executive member of the Second Kuomintang Central Committee. After graduating from Peking University in 1926, he went to study in the Soviet Union, graduated from Moscow Zhongshan University in 1927 and from Frunze Military Academy in 1930. After returning to China in 1938, he served successively as chief of the Advisory Affairs Division at the Military Committee of the National Government, instructor at the Army University, legislator, staff officer with a major general's rank at the Military Council of the Kuomintang and secretary-general of the Sino-Soviet Cultural Association. In 1941, he joined Wang Kunlun and a few others in initiating the formation of the China Democratic Revolutionary League. In April 1945, he was appointed as a member of the Shanxi Provincial Government and director-general of the Department of Construction. In June 1946, he was appointed as a member of the Xinjiang Provincial Government and mayor of Dihua. In March 1949 he as appointed as an adviser to the Kuomintang peace negotiation delegation, and in September he unleashed the Xinjiang uprising. In 1950, he rejoined the Communist Party of China. From December 1979 to February 1987, he successively served as vice-chairman of the 5th and 6th RCCK Central Committees. From June 1983 to June 1992, he successively served as vice-chairman of the 6th and 7th CPPCC National Committees. From February to December 1987, he served as chairman of the 6th RCCK Central Committees.        

He was a member of the Northwest Military and Administrative Commission, mayor of Dihua (now Urumqi), deputy secretary-general of the Government Administration Council and deputy director of the Counselor' Office, vice-chairman of the Commission for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, deputy secretary-general of the 1st NPC Standing Committee and director of the library of the NPC Standing Committee, president of the Sino-Hungarian Friendship Association, president of the China-African Friendship Association, president of the Sino-Soviet Friendship Association; deputy to the 1st, 2nd and 5th NPCs, Standing Committee member of the 3rd to 5th CPPCC National Committees; Standing Committee member of the 3rd and 4th RCCK Central Committees, acting chairman of the RCCK Central Committee, honorary chairman of the RCCK Central Committee; and head of the Working Group for National Reunification.

 Zhu Xuefan

Zhu Xuefan (1905-1996), a native of Jinshan, Shanghai; one of the principal founders of the RCCK, chairman of the 6th and 7th RCCK Central Committee

During the May 4 Movement in 1919, he and some of his schoolfellows initiated the formation of the Students' League for National Salvation. In 1920, he graduated from the Jingye Higher Primary School in Shanghai. He studied at St. Francis Xavie's College in Shanghai in 1921 and at the Department of Economics of Harvard University in the United States in 1922. In 1924, he was admitted into the Shanghai Post Office. From 1925 on, he successively participated in the May 30 Movement and the Third Armed Uprising of Shanghai Workers, etc. In 1928, he joined the Chinese Kuomintang. He served as Executive Council member of the Shanghai Postal Trade Union in 1929, as Standing Council member of the National Postal Trade Union in 1931, and as Standing Executive Council member of the National Postal Trade Union and chairman of the Shanghai Trade Union. During the anti-Japanese armed resistance that flared up in Shanghai-Wusong area on January 28, 1932, he organized postal workers to form ambulance corps. From 1936 to 1945, he attended eight times the International Labor Conference as a labor representative, and successively served as deputy director (June 1937) and director (March 1944) of the Executive Council of the International Labor Organization. In March 1938, together with representatives of the Trade Union of the Shensi-Kansu-Ningsia Border Region, he sponsored in Hankou the creation of the Preparatory Committee for the Anti-Japanese Federation of Chinese Workers. From July 1939 to 1945, he served as Executive Bureau member of the International Trade Union Confederation. From December 1939 to November 1949, he served as Executive Council chairman of the China Labor Association (CLA). In October 1945, on behalf of the CLA, he invited the Workers' Federation in the liberated areas to jointly form a unified Chinese trade union delegation to attend the Founding Congress of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), at which he was elected as WFTU Executive Council member and vice-president. In 1947, together with Li Jishen, He Xiangning and a few others, he worked energetically for the founding of a democratic revolutionary organization and made a special trip to the United States to listen to Feng Yuxiang's views on this matter. In 1948, the RCCK was founded; he was elected as Standing Committee member of the Executive Council of the RCCK Central Committee and appointed as director of the Organization Work Committee. In February 1948 he went to northeast China liberated areas, and in August the Sixth All-China Labor Congress jointly sponsored by him and trade unions from the liberated areas was held and the Chinese National Federation of Trade Unions was reestablished with him as its vice-president. In 1949, he attended the Preparatory Meeting for the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the First CPPCC Plenary Session, spoke at the meeting on behalf of Chinese National Federation of Trade Unions. From October 1949 to 1969, he held the office of Minister of Post and Telecommunications of the People's Republic of China. From October 1979 to December 1987, he successively served as vice-chairman of the 5th and 6th RCCK Central Committees. From December 1981 to March 1993, he successively served as vice-chairman of the 5th, 6th and 7th NPC Standing Committees. From December 1987 to December 1992, he successively served as chairman of the 6th and 7th RCCK Central Committees.

He was Standing Committee member of the 2nd to 4th CPPCC National Committees, deputy to the 1st to 3rd NPCs; member of the 2nd RCCK Central Committee, Standing Committee member of the 3rd to 5th RCCK Central Committees and chairman of the Central Supervisory Committee; vice-president of the Association for International Understanding of China, president of the China Association for the Advancement of International Friendship, president of the China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification, vice-president of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, honorary president of the China Philatelic Association, honorary president of the China Workers Center for International Exchange; and honorary president of the Red Cross Society of China. Among his works are Collection of Essays by Zhu Xuefan, My 40 Years with the RCCK and My Labor Movement Career.

 Li Peiyao

Li Peiyao (1933-1996), born in Hong Kong, a native of Cangwu, Guangxi Province; graduated as a major in aircraft manufacture from Beijing College of Aeronautics in 1957, held the title of engineer; joined the RCCK in February 1986, served as chairman of the 8th RCCK Central Committee

From September 1957 to January 1958, he taught at Nanchang Aerial Navigation School. From 1958 to 1987, he worked successively as technician, engineer, leader engineer and senior engineer at Nanchang Aircraft Factory (now Nanchang Aircraft Manufacturing Company). From 1986 to 1988, he served as vice-chairman of the 6th and 7th RCCK Jiangxi Provincial Committee. In 1988, he was elected as Standing Committee member of the 7th CPPCC National Committee in March, as vice-president of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions in October and as vice-chairman of the 7th RCCK Central Committee. In March 1989, he was appointed as Vice-Minister of Labor of the People's Republic of China, executive vice-chairman of the National Safe Production Commission and President of the Chinese People's Association for Peace and Disarmament. In December 1992, he was elected as chairman of the 8th RCCK Central Committee and a member of the China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification. From March 1993 to February 1996, he served as vice-chairman of the 8th NPC Standing Committee.

He was member of the 6th RCCK Central Committee, member of the 6th CPPCC National Committee, Standing Committee member and vice-chairman of the CPPCC Jiangxi Provincial Committee. Among his works is Questions and Answers on Forging and Punching Technologies.

 He Luli

He Luli (1934 - ), female, a native of Heze, Shandong Province; graduated from the Department of Medicine, Beijing Medical College in July 1957, associate professor of medicine; joined the RCCK in April 1986, chairwoman of the 8th and 9th RCCK Central Committee and now chairwoman of the 10th RCCK Central Committee

From September 1952 to July 1957, she studied at the Department of Medicine, Beijing Medical College. From September 1957 to February 1970, she worked as a physician successively at Beijing Children's Hospital and Beijing Xicheng District Children's Hospital. From March 1970 to June 1984, she worked as physician-in-charge, associate professor of medicine and department head at Beijing No. 2 Hospital. From June 1984 to January 1988, she served as deputy head of the Xicheng District People's Government in Beijing. From January 1988 to December 1996, she held the office of vice-mayor of the Beijing Municipal People's Government. From September 1993 to September 1998, she served as vice-chairwoman of the 7th National Committee of the All-China Women's Federation. From November 1988 to November 1996, she served as vice-chairwoman of the 7th and 8th RCCK Central Committees. From November 1996 to the present, she served as chairwoman of the 8th to 10th RCCK Central Committees. From March 1996 to March 1998, she held the post as vice-chairwoman of the 8th CPPCC National Committee. From March 1998 to March 2003, she served as vice-chairwoman of the 9th NPC Standing Committee. From March 2003 to the present, she has served as vice-chairwoman of the 10th NPC Standing Committee.

She was once cited as an advanced worker in promoting family planning in Beijing and cited in 1990 and 1992 as a mayor of one of the ten cleanest cities, and was awarded the titles of honor National Advanced Worker in Promoting Family Planning and National Woman Pace-Setter. In 1999, she won Tobacco or Health Memorial Prize from the World Health Organization. In 2006, she was conferred the Medal of Officer of the French National Order of Merit.

She was an alternate member of the 6th RCCK Central Committee, vice-chairwoman of the 8th and 9th RCCK Beijing Municipal Committees, chairwoman of the 10th RCCK Beijing Municipal Committee; deputy to the 8th to 10th Beijing People's Congresses, Standing Committee member of the 7th CPPCC Beijing Municipal Committee; member, Standing Committee member of the 7th CPPCC National Committee and Standing Committee member of the 8th CPPCC National Committee.

She is Vice-Chairwoman of the 10th NPC Standing Committee, Chairwoman of the 10th RCCK Central Committee, President of the Central Institute of Socialism, President of the Chinese People's Association for Peace and Disarmament, General Director of the Society of Studies on the 1911 Revolution, General Director of the Chinese foundation for Hepatitis Prevention and Control, President of the China Cancer Foundation, Special Adviser to the Soong Ching Ling Foundation, Honorary Vice-President of the Red Cross Society of China, Honorary President of the China Charity Federation, Honorary President of the China-EU Association and Honorary President of the China Population Welfare Foundation.