Hua Guofeng, Chinese politician, 2nd Premier of the People's Republic of China (born 1921)

Hua Guofeng was a Chinese politician who served as chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and the 2nd premier of China. As the successor of Mao Zedong, Hua held the top offices of the government, party, and the military after the deaths of Mao and Premier Zhou Enlai, but was gradually forced out of power by a coalition of party leaders between December 1978 and June 1981, and subsequently retreated from the political limelight, though still remaining a member of the Central Committee until 2002.

The premier of China, officially the Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, is the head of government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and leader of the State Council. This post was established in 1911 near the end of the Qing dynasty, but the current post dates to 1954, five years after the establishment of the PRC. The premier is the third-highest ranking official in China's political system after the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and the president, and holds the highest rank in the civil service of the central government.