Mao Zedong was the Communist leader who proclaimed the People’s Republic of China in 1949. On October 1, 1949, Mao announced the founding of the new state from Tiananmen Gate in Beijing before a large public ceremony.
The proclamation followed years of civil war between Mao’s Chinese Communist forces and Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist government, also known as the Kuomintang. Communist forces had captured most of mainland China, while Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalist government retreated to Taiwan. Mao became chairman of the Central People’s Government and the dominant leader of the new People’s Republic.
Zhou Enlai was an important Communist statesman and became the new government’s first premier, but he did not make the proclamation. Deng Xiaoping became a major Chinese leader decades later. The date of Mao’s announcement, October 1, remains celebrated as China’s National Day.