Zhou Enlai (Chou Enlai), a great Chinese Communist leader, was born in Jiangsu province, China, in 1898; his ancestral home was in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province. As the son of rich parents, he was educated in China at an American-supported school then studied in a university in Japan. He moved to France in 1920 where he strove to organize the overseas branch of the Chinese Communist Party. He also lived in Britain and Germany before returning to China. During the period of 1920-1924, he spread Marxism among Chinese students and workers living in Europe actively.

In his early life, he devoted to China’s revolutionary career. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, Zhou Enlai was Premier of the country from 1949 until his death in January 1976 as well as China's foreign minister from 1949 to 1958. On the international political stage Zhou was a skilled and capable diplomat, having advocated peaceful coexistence and participated at the Geneva Conference in 1954. For the sake of his exalted personal character, Zhou Enlai was loved and respected by all the Chinese people.

Zhou Enlai (Chou En-lai), the son of wealthy parents, was born in Jiangsu, China, in 1898. He was educated in a missionary college in Tianjin before studying at a university in Japan. He moved to France in 1920 where he helped to form the overseas branch of the Chinese Communist Party. He also lived in Britain and Germany before returning to China in 1924.

As members of the Communist Party Mao Zedong, Zhu De and Zhou Enlai adapted the ideas of Lenin who had successfully achieved a revolution in Russia in 1917. They argued that in Asia it was important to concentrate on the countryside rather than the towns, in order to create a revolutionary elite.

Zhou Enlai also worked closely with the Kuomintang and was appointed deputy director of the political department of the Whampoa Military Academy. With the help of advisers from the Soviet Union the Kuomintang gradually increased its power in China. Its leader, Sun Yat-sen died on 12th March 1925. Chiang Kai-Shek emerged as the most important figure in the organization. He now carried out a purge that eliminated the communists from the organization. Those communists who survived managed to established the Jiangxi Soviet.

The nationalists now imposed a blockade and Mao Zedong decided to evacuate the area and establish a new stronghold in the north-west of China. In October 1934 Mao, Zhou Enlai, Lin Biao, Zhu De, and some 100,000 men and their dependents headed west through mountainous areas.

The marchers experienced terrible hardships. The most notable passages included the crossing of the suspension bridge over a deep gorge at Luting (May, 1935), travelling over the Tahsueh Shan mountains (August, 1935) and the swampland of Sikang (September, 1935).

The marchers covered about fifty miles a day and reached Shensi on 20th October 1935. It is estimated that only around 30,000 survived the 8,000-mile Long March.

When the Japanese Army invaded the heartland of China in 1937, Chiang Kai-Shek was forced to move his capital from Nanking to Chungking. He lost control of the coastal regions and most of the major cities to Japan. In an effort to beat the Japanese he agreed to collaborate with Mao Zedong and his communist army.

During the Second World War the communist guerrilla forces were well led by Zhu De and Lin Biao. As soon as the Japanese surrendered, Communist forces began a war against the Nationalists led by Chaing Kai-Shek. The communists gradually gained control of the country and on 1st October, 1949, Mao Zedong announced the establishment of People's Republic of China.

Zhou Enlai became prime minister and foreign minister. In 1954 he headed the Chinese delegation to the Geneva Conference. The following year he advocated Third World unity at the Bandung Conference.

Zhou Enlai was the main architect of the Détente policy with the United States and met Richard Nixon in China in February 1972. Thanks to his efforts, China and the United States establishd the official diplomatic relations.  Zhou Enlai died of cancer in Beijing on 8th January 1976.