Zhou Enlai was an important leader of the CPC. He was an outstanding stateman and diplomat who played an important role in a series of major historyical events, such as Northern Expedition, Nanchang Uprising, Zunyi Conference, Xi'an Incident, Chongqing Negotiations and founding of the PRC. As the first premier and concurrently minister of foreign affairs of New China, He possessed superb diplomatic skills and personality charm. Every time he appeared on diplomatic occasions, he would bring hope to those who loved peace. He was a symbol of success and victory.

From April to July 1954, the US, the soviet Union, China, France and other belligerent parties in the Korean War and Indo-China War held a conference in Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss the armistice issue. This was the first important international conference in which New China participated as a great nation. Chinese delegation, led by Zhou Enlai, accomplished their task at the conference with flying colors, and made a great contribution to restoration of peace.

Zhou Enlai also made exceptional contributions to improvement of Sino-US relations. Relations between China and the US were suspended for over 20 years after founding of New China. But in the late 1960s, Chinese and US governments decided to improve relations. On October 1st, 1970, during National Day celetrations held in Tiananmen Square, at Zhou Enlai's invitation, the US reporter Edgar Snow and his wife appeared on Tiananmen Rostrum, sending a signal of friendship to the US.

On February 21st, 1972, US President Richard Nixon visited China, a country with no formal diplomatic relations at that time. Zhou Enlai went to the airport to welcome him, and said, as they shook hands, "You stretched out your hands across the broadest ocean in the world to shake hands with me." From that moment on, relations between the two countries began to be orbited on to the road of normalization. Zhou Enlai played an indispensable role in this process, displaying great creativity, flexibility, and extraordinary diplomatic skills in working out and implementing Chinese policy concerning the US.