Sun Yefang

Former Residence of Sun Yefang

Sun was born in Wuxi County (now Wuxi), Jiangsu, on 24 October 1908. His elder brother Xue Mingjian (1895–1980) was a politician in the government of the Republic of China. His cousin Xue Muqiao was an economist and politician.

He studied at Sun Yat-sen University and after graduation, he taught political economy and translation at Zhongshan University and at Moscow East Worker University.

In 1930, he returned to China to take part in organizing the China Rural Economy Research Association. He also edited the journal Zhongguo Nongcun (中国农村, Rural China).

After the Chinese Civil War, he held positions as head of the Department of Heavy Industry, Shanghai Military Control Commission; Assistant Commissioner, State Statistical Bureau; Director, Economics Institute at the Chinese Academy of Science; Commissioner, Fifth Session of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference; delegate, 12th National Party Congress; member, Advisory Commission of the Central Committee of the CCP; member, State Council Academic Appraisal Committee.

Sun advocated market-oriented reforms and was denounced by the Maoists as "China's Liberman" (referring to the Khrushchev-era economist Evsei Liberman) as a result of a damaging association with Liu Shaoqi, who was known as China's Khrushchev".[1]

He was associated with the career of pioneer post-Marxist Chinese liberal Gu Zhun, acting as the latter's protector during anti-Rightist purges to which he himself was eventually to succumb.[1]

Sun married Feng Keping (洪克平), and had an adopted daughter named Li Zhao (李昭).