Jia Yibin
Jia Yibin, originally named Jia Zaiheng and styled Siqi, was a Chinese military officer, revolutionary, and prominent patriotic democratic figure. Born in Yangxin County, Hubei, he was a senior leader of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang and later a member of the Chinese Communist Party. He was widely recognized for his role in anti-Japanese resistance, opposition to the Chinese Civil War, and participation in the peaceful transition of power in 1949.
Biography
Jia Yibin studied under the military theorist and educator Hang Hongzhi, whose mentorship influenced his early military training and academic development. Jia Yibin began his military education in the early 1930s and entered the Nanjing Army Infantry School in 1932. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, he served on multiple front lines against Japanese forces and rose through the ranks from junior officer to senior command and staff positions. In 1943, he was appointed a major general adviser to the Military Affairs Commission of the Nationalist Government and later that year enrolled in the Seventh Special Class of the Army University.Following the end of the war, Jia firmly advocated peace and opposed renewed civil conflict. In April 1949, he led an uprising in Jiaxing, Zhejiang, in coordination with the advancing People's Liberation Army, and formally joined the Chinese Communist Party the same month. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he held posts in the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau, the Ninth Corps of the PLA, and state foreign trade enterprises, including the Shanghai branches of the China Native Produce Export Corporation and the China Foodstuffs Export Corporation.
In August 1957, Jia joined the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang. He subsequently served as Vice Chairperson of the Shanghai Municipal Committee across its third through sixth terms and as a member of the RCCK Central Committee. From 1979 onward, he worked at the RCCK Central Committee, serving as Vice Chairperson of its fifth, sixth, and seventh central committees, and later as Honorary Vice Chairperson of the eighth through eleventh central committees. In addition to party leadership roles, he held concurrent positions including Deputy Chairperson of the China International Cultural Exchange Center, standing director and adviser of the China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification, and Honorary President of the Hunan Tan Sitong Research Association.
Jia Yibin was also active in state political institutions, serving as a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference for multiple terms and as a deputy to the National People's Congress. He died in Beijing on April 19, 2012, at the age of 100.