In the People's Republic of China, the Premier is the head of government, and is elected by a delegation of the National People's Congress every five years. Premiers have been limited to two terms of five years since 1982.

All the names on this list follow the Eastern order convention (family name first, given name second) for consistency.

The Premiership of PRC was created since the establishment of the People's Republic of China on 1 October 1949.

Generations of leadership

  First Administration   Second Administration   Third Administration   Hu–Wen Administration   Xi–Li Administration/Xi Core Administration

More information Portrait, Name (Birth–Death)Constituency ...

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death) Constituency	Term of office			NPC	Cabinet	President	Paramount leader
1		Zhou Enlai 周恩来 (1898–1976) Beijing At-large	1 October 1949	15 September 1954	26 years, 3 months and 1 week	CP	Zhou I	Mao Zedong
			27 September 1954	18 April 1959		I	Zhou II	Mao Zedong
			18 April 1959	21 December 1964		II	Zhou III	Liu Shaoqi	Mao Zedong
			21 December 1964	4 January 1975		III	Zhou IV	Liu Shaoqi then vacant	Mao Zedong
			4 January 1975	8 January 1976†		IV	Zhou V	Abolished	Mao Zedong
			Geneva Conference in 1954, Asian-African Conference, 1972 Nixon visit to China, Great Leap Forward, Cultural Revolution, introduction of Four Modernizations during Conference on Scientific and Technological Work Offices: Foreign Minister (1949–1958), CPPCC Chairman (1954–1976) †Died in office (cancer)
2		Hua Guofeng 华国锋 (1921–2008) Hunan At-large	31 January 1976	7 April 1976	4 years, 7 months and 6 days	IV	(acting)	Abolished	Mao Zedong
			7 April 1976	5 March 1978			Hua I	Abolished	Himself
			5 March 1978	10 September 1980§		V	Hua II	Abolished	Deng Xiaoping
			Two Whatevers, Tiananmen Incident, Downfall of the Gang of Four, Sino-Vietnamese War, One Child Policy Offices: Governor of Hunan (1970–1976), Minister of Public Security (1975–1977), Vice Premier (1975–1976) § Ousted
3		Zhao Ziyang 赵紫阳 (1919–2005) Beijing At-large	10 September 1980	6 June 1983	7 years, 2 months and 2 weeks	V	(acting)	Abolished	Deng Xiaoping
			6 June 1983	24 November 1987§		VI	Zhao	Li Xiannian	Deng Xiaoping
			Chinese economic reform, Sino-British Joint Declaration, Joint Declaration on the Question of Macau, Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 Offices: Governor of Guangdong (1974–1975), Governor of Sichuan (1975–1980) § Resigned
4		Li Peng 李鹏 (1928–2019) Beijing At-large	24 November 1987	25 March 1988	10 years, 3 months and 3 weeks	VI	(acting)	Li Xiannian	Deng Xiaoping
			25 March 1988	15 March 1993		VII	Li P. I	Yang Shangkun	Deng Xiaoping Jiang Zemin
			15 March 1993	17 March 1998		VIII	Li P. II	Jiang Zemin
			Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, Three Gorges Dam, Transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong Offices: Chairman of State Education Commission (1985–1988), Vice Premier (1983–1987)
5		Zhu Rongji 朱镕基 (1928–) Hunan At-large	17 March 1998	15 March 2003	4 years, 11 months, 3 weeks and 5 days	IX	Zhu	Jiang Zemin
			Accession to the World Trade Organization, signing of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area agreement, extensive reform of the tax system, reform of the civil service examination system, opening senior- and mid-level government positions to public selection based on merit, cutting bureaucratic waste and red tape, investing state capital in transportation, energy and agriculture, execution purge of corrupt provincial politicians who misallocated infrastructure and agriculture funds. Offices: Mayor of Shanghai (1987–1991), Governor of People's Bank of China (1993–1995), First-ranking Vice Premier (1993–1998)
6		Wen Jiabao 温家宝 (1942–) Gansu At-large	15 March 2003	16 March 2008	10 years	X	Wen I	Hu Jintao
			16 March 2008	15 March 2013		XI	Wen II	Hu Jintao
			SARs outbreak, Anti-Secession Law, H5N1 avian flu outbreak, 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Beijing Summer Olympics, Shanghai Expo, expansion of healthcare insurance coverage, abolishment long-standing agricultural tax because of rural discontent and increasing wealth gap.[1] Offices: Vice Premier (1998–2003)
7		Li Keqiang 李克强 (1955–2023) Shandong At-large (until 2018) Guangxi At-large (from 2018)	15 March 2013	18 March 2018	9 years, 11 months, 3 weeks and 3 days	XII	Li K.	Xi Jinping
			18 March 2018	11 March 2023		XIII		Xi Jinping
			2014 Ludian earthquake, COVID-19 pandemic, Beijing Winter Olympics, comprehensively deepening reforms, common prosperity, streamline administration and delegate power. Offices: First-ranking Vice Premier (2008–2013)
8		Li Qiang 李强 (1959–) Yunnan At-large	11 March 2023	Incumbent	1 year, 1 month, 1 week and 5 days	XIV	Li Q.	Xi Jinping
			Offices: Governor of Zhejiang (2012–2016)

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Timeline

• Generations of Chinese leadership
• Grand chancellor (China)
• List of Chinese leaders
• List of premiers of China
• List of presidents of the People's Republic of China
• List of vice premiers of the People's Republic of China
• Paramount leader
• Vice President of the People's Republic of China