Sun Jian (; 1936 – November 1997) was a Chinese factory worker who was elevated to the position of Vice Premier in 1975, during the Cultural Revolution. After the end of the Cultural Revolution, he was declared a follower of the

Gang of Four The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes. The gang ...

and was dismissed from the government in 1978. He returned to his former life as a factory worker in Tianjin and later became a company manager.

Biography

Sun Jian was born 1936 in rural Dingxing County, Hebei Province. In 1951, he became a worker at the Tianjin Internal Combustion Engine Factory. Starting at the bottom, he was known as a hard worker and rose through the ranks, eventually becoming the party secretary of the factory. During the Cultural Revolution, he was elevated to the Tianjin Municipal Bureau of Machinery to serve as vice-director of its Revolutionary Committee in charge of production, and then promoted to (deputy) party secretary of Tianjin in charge of industry. At the

4th National People's Congress The 4th National People's Congress () was in session from 1975 to 1978. It held only one session, in January 1975. There were 2864 deputies to this Congress. The Congress passed the 1975 Constitution of the People's Republic of China. Elected st ...

in January 1975, Sun, aged 39, was elected as a Vice Premier of the State Council, together with fellow model worker

Wu Guixian Wu Guixian (; born 1938) is a Chinese politician who served as China's first female vice premier from January 1975 to September 1977. Originally a worker at a state-owned cotton factory in Xianyang, she was appointed by party leader Mao Zedong a ...

and peasant leader Chen Yonggui. Sun was made responsible for industrial production, and also became an alternate member of the

10th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party The 10th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was in session from 1973 to 1977. It was preceded by the 9th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. It held three plenary sessions in the 4-year period. It was formally succeeded ...

. The Cultural Revolution ended in 1976 following Mao Zedong's death, and the radical

was arrested. Sun stayed in his position for two more years, but was declared a follower of the Gang of Four and purged in the spring of 1978. Sun was sent back to Tianjin, where he underwent "supervised reformation" at the Tianjin Machinery Factory. When his wife Pang Xiuting (庞秀婷) was allowed to visit him, he promised her that he would not kill himself. He returned to his old life as a factory worker, although he was now a centre of attention for being a former vice-premier. In 1985, the national government gave permission for his promotion to a middle-management position, and Sun was put in charge of a US$5 million German investment in a motorcycle production line in Tianjin. He was later appointed as manager of a state-owned machinery company in the Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area (TEDA). In November 1997, Sun died from lung cancer in Tianjin, at the age of 61.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sun, Jian 1936 births 1997 deaths Vice premiers of the People's Republic of China Politicians from Baoding People's Republic of China politicians from Hebei Chinese Communist Party politicians from Hebei Political office-holders in Tianjin Alternate members of the 10th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party People of the Cultural Revolution Deaths from lung cancer in the People's Republic of China