Gu Mu

Gu Mu (; September 1914 – November 6, 2009) was a Chinese revolutionary figure and politician, who served as the Vice-Premier of the People's Republic of China between 1975 and 1982. As one of Deng Xiaoping's main aides in charge of economic management, he played a major role in implementing Deng's economic reform policies of the 1980s. He was a key figure in the creation of Shenzhen, China's first Special Economic Zone. Early life and career Gu Mu was born in September 1914 in a village in Rongcheng, Shandong. His birth name was Liu Jiayu. Although his parents were poor peasants, he received a good education at the insistence of his grandfather. He joined the Communist Party in July 1932 and became involved in revolutionary activities in Wendeng County, where he was attending school. He changed his name to "Gu Mu" to avoid implicating his family. In 1934, Gu went to Beijing (then known as Beiping) and became a leader of the Beiping branch of the League of Left-Wing Writers. In 1936, Gu Mu worked in military logistics under the warlord Zhang Xueliang, and participated in the Xi'an Incident. In September 1940, Gu went back to Shandong to take on a series of progressively senior leadership positions, including Deputy Political Commissar of the First Military Region.