5 March 1898 - 8 January 1976 was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first premier of the PRC from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 January 1976. Zhou served under Chairman Mao Zedong and helped the Communist Party rise to power, later helping consolidate its control, form its foreign policy, and develop the Chinese economy.

It was Zhou Enlai who offered Mao the best support after Lin's death. Understanding the situation better than Mao, Zhou helped to keep the fallout from Lin's death from spiraling out of control. Having spent much of his life dedicated to Mao, Zhou had many personal reasons for protecting the chairman. It was Zhou who began to spread the word of Lin's planned coup and smear the late leader's reputation. The CCP, under the direction of Zhou, took control over the military men who had served under Lin. Once these measures were in place, making sure that there were few (if any) people who would extol Lin's life, the CCP let the nation know of Lin's demise. It was largely Zhou's efforts that ensured that Mao's leadership remained intact after the death of his successor.

Mao's right-hand man for most of his life Zhou was born in Jiangsu, educated in Tianjin and went to France to study in the early 1920s where he joined the CCP. A brilliant figure who dazzled all who met him, he played a leading role in almost every major event in Party history but subordinated himself to Mao from the 1930s onwards. He was Prime Minister from 1949 until his death, and his adopted son Li Peng succeeded him in 1987. Zhou's record is portrayed in heroic terms although he carried out Mao's orders throughout the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution when he supervised the persecution of much of the Party elite. His death triggered huge anti-government protests in Tiananmen Square.