Qian Jiaju

Qian Jiaju

Qian Jiaju (Chinese: 千家驹; 1909–2002) was a Chinese economist and a leading figure in the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and in the China Democratic League.

Life[]

Born in Wuyi county, Zhejiang province, Qian graduated from the Department of Economics at Peking University in the 1930s. During the Hundred Flowers Campaign (1956-57) he criticised the Chinese Communist Party for interfering politically in science and technology. In 1967, during the Cultural Revolution, he was branded a follower of Liu Shaoqi. After re-appearing in the 1980s, he continued to voice criticism: for example, of the role of the National People’s Congress (NPC), the Three Gorges Dam Project, and the economic austerity measures of Li Peng in 1988-89.^[1] In 1989 he moved to the USA, where he took up Buddhism. He later returned to China, and lived in Shenzhen, until his death in 2002.

Numismatics[]

In addition to his economic and political work, Qian was also interested in numismatics, and co-authored (with Guo Yangang 郭彥岗) 中国货币演变史 (History of the Evolution of Chinese Money). He provided the calligraphy for the front cover of Qianbi Bolan, the quarterly journal of the .

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