ABSTRACT
Zhao Ziyang was born in 1919 in Hua xian, Henan province. His father was a landlord who also owned grain storage facilities. Between 1928 and 1937 Zhao successively attended Hua County Number One General Primary School, Kaifeng Number One Junior Middle School, and Wuhan Senior Middle School. In March 1932 Zhao joined the Communist Youth League, becoming a full member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in February 1938. From 1938 to 1940 Zhao served as a CCP secretary in his native Hua xian. During the Japanese invasion this xian became part of the Third Special District in the Hebei-Shandong-Henan border region, where Zhao remained until 1946. By August 1951 Zhao had been promoted to secretary-general of the South-China Sub-Bureau Secretariat and had become a member of the Sub-Bureau’s Standing Committee. As secretary-general, Zhao worked at the nexus of day-to-day provincial affairs.
