Deng Xiaoping was a Chinese revolutionary and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China from 1978 until his retirement in 1989. He is credited with initiating the economic reforms that transformed China into one of the world's fastest-growing economies. His political philosophy, known as Dengism, is widely regarded as the guiding ideology of modern China. The term 'DENG' is an abbreviation of his surname.