Since 1949 Held the posts of: secretary of the South China Branch of the CCP Central Committee; first secretary of the CCP Guangdong Provincial Committee; member of the Secretariat of the Central South Office; political commissar of the Guangdong Provincial Military Area Command; and third political commissar of the Guangzhou Military Region.

1966 Dismissed from all leadership posts during the Cultural Revolution as a supporter of the reforms of Liu Shaoqi.

1971 Assigned to work in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region; and then as first secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the CCP and political commissar of Guangzhou Military Region.

1973 Rehabilitated by Zhou Enlai.

1975 Became first secretary of Sichuan Provincial Committee of the CCP and political commissar of Chengdu Military Region.

September 1979 Selected member of the CCP Politburo.

February 1980 Selected Standing Committee member of the Politburo.

June 1981 Selected deputy chairman of the CCP Central Committee.

June 1983 Becomes premier.

December 19, 1984 Signs the Sino-British Joint Declaration on the Question of Hong Kong.

January 1987 Selected acting CCP party secretary at the expanded Politburo meeting.

October 1987 Became party secretary of the CCP Central Committee and first vice-chairman of the CCP Central Military Commission.

April 1988 Became vice-chairman of the State Central Military Commission.

May 19, 1989 Visited students on hunger strike on Tiananmen Square and argued against military crackdown on them.

June 1989 Dismissed from all leading positions in the CCP and government. Placed under house arrest.

July 1989 Dismissed from position as deputy chairman of the State Central Military Commission.