Deng Xiaoping

One of the most important figures in global politics during the second half of the 20th century; Deng Xiaoping is generally considered the central figure behind China´s economic liberalization programme that produced historically unprecedented growth rates and development beginning in the late 1970s. Lifting nearly a billion people out of poverty, Deng Xiaoping´s ´Four Modernisations´ called for reform in agriculture, industry, military, and science and technology. Today these reforms are considered to be the crucial turning point in modern Chinese history, enabling China to effectively harness its previously-latent power in its quest to become a global economic superpower. Just ten years after this tremendous achievement, Deng´s brutal suppression of the democracy movement at Tiananmen Square severely undermined his international and domestic reputation.