Chen Xilian

Chen Kaichu, better known by the nom de guerre Chen Xilian (pronounced ; January 1915-June 1999) was a general of People's Liberation Army of China and a member of the Central Committee Politburo.

Chen was born in Hong'an County, Hubei Province of China in 1915. He joined his local Chinese Red Army guerrilla unit in 1929, and the Communist Youth League a year later. He was an army general from 1955 and a year later an Alternate Member of the 8th Central Committee (CC). Chen was a member of the CPC Politburo through three party congresses (1969–80), but fell afoul of Deng Xiaoping’s reforms and was demoted with three colleagues (Wu De, Ji Dengkui and Wang Dongxing) dubbed the “Small Gang of Four” to mere CC status in February 1980. Chen was assigned to the Standing Committee of the party Central Advisory Committee in September 1982.