Gu Mu

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Gu Mu (谷牧; 1914–2009) was a Chinese revolutionary and top official who helped shape China’s economic reforms in the 1980s. He was born in September 1914 in Rongcheng, Shandong. His birth name was Liu Jiayu, and he changed his name to Gu Mu to protect his family as he joined the Communist Party in 1932 and became active in revolutionary work, including the period around the Xi’an Incident in 1936.

After the founding of the People's Republic in 1949, Gu Mu held several important posts. He was Party Secretary and Mayor of Jinan, and later served as Deputy Party Secretary and propaganda chief of Shanghai. In 1954 he moved to Beijing as Deputy Head of the State Construction Commission. In the mid-1960s he led the Third Front Construction, a program to build basic and defense industries inland. He then became Director of the State Construction Commission in 1965. During the Cultural Revolution he faced political persecution but returned to work in 1973 as head of the State Development and Planning Commission.

In 1975 Gu Mu was named Vice Premier, overseeing the State Construction and Import/Export Commissions. From 1978 he was a key member of Deng Xiaoping’s reform team, focusing on economic development and foreign relations. He led China’s first formal delegation to Western Europe to study capitalist economies, and his work helped encourage China’s opening to foreign technology. He also played a major role in the creation of Shenzhen, China’s first Special Economic Zone. He joined the Central Secretariat in 1980 and became a State Councilor in May 1982. He remained influential in economic reform and opened policy choices until the late 1980s.

In 1988 Gu Mu became vice-chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and retired from public life in 1993. He died in Beijing on November 6, 2009, at age 95. He was eulogized as a loyal revolutionary and a leading figure in China’s economic development; his funeral was attended by top leaders including Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin.

Family life: Gu Mu had four sons and one daughter, all with the surname Liu. His son Liu Nianyuan became a major general in the People’s Liberation Army, and another son, Liu Liyuan, was imprisoned for two years during the Cultural Revolution.