An Zhifan

An Zhifan (; April 1911 – April 7, 2011), also known as An Guoping, was a Chinese politician and senior Communist Party official from Xinjiang County, Shanxi. He was a member of the Chinese Communist Party and served as vice chairman of the Shanxi Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference as well as head of the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party Committee of Shanxi Province.

Biography

An Zhifan was born in April 1911 in Xinjiang County, Shanxi Province. He studied at Shanxi University. In March 1935, he joined the Chinese Mutual Aid Association, a clandestine organization affiliated with the Communist movement, and in March 1936 he formally became a member of the Chinese Communist Party.

During the revolutionary period, An was engaged in underground and organizational work. He served as a communications officer for the Beiping Municipal Committee of the Communist Party and later held similar posts in Shanxi and the North China Bureau. He subsequently worked in the Organization Department of the Communist Party Central Committee, where he served as a cadre and deputy section chief. He also studied at the Marxism–Leninism Institute in Yan'an and later worked in the Central Rural Affairs Commission, which included responsibilities related to confidential communications.

After the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War, An held a series of leadership positions in northern China. He served as propaganda minister of Weichang County in Rehe Province, secretary-general of the Rexi Prefectural Committee, deputy secretary of the Longhua County Committee, and concurrently secretary of its working committee. He later became county party secretary of Luanhe County and political commissar of the county brigade, followed by a position as section chief in the Organization Department of the Jirecha Regional Committee and district party secretary in Zhangjiakou.

Following the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, An worked in organizational departments at the regional and provincial levels, including the Wannan Regional Committee and the Anhui Provincial Committee. He later transferred to the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party Central Committee, where he served as deputy director and director of the cadre division.

In November 1958, An was appointed executive deputy head of the United Front Work Department of the Shanxi Provincial Committee. In October 1964, he became vice chairman of the Shanxi Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and concurrently head of the provincial United Front Work Department. During the Cultural Revolution, he held various administrative and foreign affairs roles, including director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Shanxi Revolutionary Committee, and also participated in cadre training and rural labor assignments.

After 1978, An again served as vice chairman of the Shanxi Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and deputy head of the provincial United Front Work Department, where he presided over its work. An Zhifan was a delegate to the 4th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and served as a member of the Shanxi Provincial Party Committee. He was also a specially invited representative to several provincial Party congresses. An died on April 7, 2011, in Taiyuan, Shanxi, at the age of 101.