Hu Yaobang (20 November 1915 – 15 April 1989) was a Chinese politician who was a high-ranking official of the People's Republic of China. He held the top office of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1981 to 1987, first as Chairman from 1981 to 1982, then as General Secretary from 1982 to 1987. After the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), Hu rose to prominence as a close ally of Deng Xiaoping, the paramount leader of China at the time.
Hu joined the CCP in the 1930s. During the Cultural Revolution, he was purged, recalled, and purged again by Mao Zedong. After Deng rose to power, following Mao's death, Hu played an important role in the Boluan Fanzheng program. Throughout the 1980s, he pursued a series of economic and political reforms under the supervision of Deng. Meanwhile, Hu's political and economic reforms also made him the enemy of several powerful Party elders, who opposed free-market and government reforms. When widespread student protests occurred across China in December 1986 and January 1987, Hu's political opponents blamed him for the disruptions and convinced Deng that Hu's tolerance of "bourgeois liberalization" had instigated the protests.