Who served as Chinese Premier during Mao Zedong's leadership?

• A. Deng Xiaoping
• B. Liu Shaoqi
• C. Chen Boda
• D. Zhou Enlai

Answer: (D)

The position being asked about is the head of government in the early PRC, responsible for running the State Council and implementing policy under Mao’s leadership. Zhou Enlai held this post from the founding of the PRC in 1949 until his death in 1976, making him the steady administrative leader who managed daily affairs, foreign policy, and many domestic initiatives while Mao led the party and set overall direction.

Deng Xiaoping was a major figure and later the architect of major reforms, but his official role as Premier during Mao’s era was not the defining leadership position he is often associated with in that period. Liu Shaoqi was the President/Chairman of the PRC, not the Premier, and Chen Boda was a high-ranking party theorist and organizer, not the head of government. Therefore, Zhou Enlai is the one who served as Premier throughout Mao Zedong’s leadership.