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DSR 11C
other senior Party and government officials he was
disgraced in the Cultural Revolution. However he reappeared
fairly quickly and became in December 1970 a Vice-Chairman
of Jiangsu provincial Revolutionary Committee. After the
sale of the "Gang of Four", Xu took over from Peng Chong as
the leading official in Jiangsu.
and unlike most of his Predecessors not a Cantonese
Xu does not have any obvious connections with Deng
Xiaoping. During his long period of service in Jiangsu he
worked closely with Xu Shiyou and Peng Chong, both of whom
preceded him as the senior leader in Jiangsu. They were
both antagonistic towards the extremist wing of the Party
represented by the "Gang of Four", but neither hage really
prospered under the current leadership. Nonetheless Xu Jiatun's
present appointment would not have been made unless he was
fully trusted by the leadership.
Xu is the most senior figure to be appointed Director of NZCNA in Hong Kong At 67, he is unfashionably old for
assuming leading posts in China but he has behind him a wide
one of
bests
most
range of experience in running, China's economically important
productive provinces. He took personal charge of Jiangsu's
foreign trade in 1978, and in the last five years has visited
Romania, Japan, Australia and the United States.
CONFIDENTIAL
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