Zhou Enlai (Chou En-lai)

A Chinese Communist statesman. He was a founder member of the French Communist Party when he lived in Paris (1920-24). On returning to China he organized revolts against the war lords in Shanghai, Nanjing and Canton, spent 2 years in the USSR, and then became Mao Zedong's urban revolutionary affairs adviser. During WWII he was the Communists' liaison officer in the wartime capital, Chongquing. He was PM (1949-76) from the time the Communists took power, also holding the office of Foreign Minister until 1958. He became the best known of China's leaders, travelling widely on diplomatic missions, and as leader of détente; with the USA (1972-73).