Yizi Chen

Chen Yizi (Chinese: 陈一谘; July 20, 1940 – April 14, 2014) was a Chinese neoauthoritarian scholar and economist who served as the director of China's Institute for Economic Structural Reform (中国经济体制改革研究所). Chen was a top adviser to Zhao Ziyang, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party between 1987 and 1989, as well as to the Chinese government.

Biography

Early life Chen Yizi was born in Chengdu, Sichuan on July 20, 1940. He was a senior adviser to CCP General Secretary Zhao Ziyang and played an important role in the reform and opening up. Chen was part of a large investigation group consisting of around 200 people from the Institute for Reforms, which visited every province in mainland China and examined internal documents and records of the Communist Party. Many of Zhao Ziyang's aides and advisers in government think tanks were soon purged and arrested, and Chen became one of the seven most-wanted dissidents in mainland China. He also took part in the Princeton China Initiative (普林斯顿中国学社). Chen died in Los Angeles on April 14, 2014, at the age of 73.