Ma Chungu

Ma Chungu (; 1907 – 1979) was a Chinese politician and trade union leader. He was a native of Wuchang, Hubei Province.

Biography

Ma took part in the May Thirtieth Movement in Wuhan in 1925 and later studied at Chaoyang University in Beijing, Labor University in Shanghai, and Shanghai College of Commerce. In January 1927, he joined the Chinese Communist Party. During the early 1930s, he was active in the Chinese League of Social Scientists, serving as a group leader, district officer, standing committee member, and Party branch secretary. From 1934 to 1936, he was secretary of the Shanghai Executive Bureau of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) and a leading figure in the Shanghai Federation of Trade Unions.

After the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, Ma served on the Workers’ Committee of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and became its secretary in 1938. In 1940, he went to Yan'an, where he worked as an editor for China Worker and the workers’ supplement of the Liberation Daily.

After returning to Shanghai, Ma became deputy secretary of the Shanghai Workers’ Committee and later deputy secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Party. Following the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, he served as a member of the Shanghai Municipal Committee, a member of the Shanghai People’s Government Committee, and director of the Shanghai Labor Bureau.

In 1953, Ma moved to Beijing, where he held a series of important positions in the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, including member of the Seventh Executive Committee, director of the International Liaison Department, deputy secretary of the Party group, and executive vice chairman. He also served as a secretary of the Secretariat of the ACFTU and was elected secretary of the Secretariat of the World Federation of Trade Unions. In 1955, he attended international workers’ conferences as head of the ACFTU’s international liaison work.

In 1962, Ma was appointed executive vice chairman and secretary of the Secretariat of the ACFTU. During the Cultural Revolution, he was persecuted. He died in 1979.