He led the party organization in Beijing following the victory of the Communists in the Chinese Civil War in 1949, but was purged during the Cultural Revolution for opposing Mao's views on the role of literature in relation to the state.

Peng also served on a number of positions as vice-president of the Central Party School and director of the CCP Policy Research Office.

Peng was removed as the CCP leader in the northeast after further failure by Lin Biao's forces in March 1946 led to the Communists retreat back to Harbin.

Beginning in 1983, as Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Sixth National People's Congress, he sought to increase the NPC's power.

During the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, Peng Zhen supported the declaration of martial law in Beijing and the removal of Zhao Ziyang.

Peng Zhen died on April 26, 1997, from blood cancer aged 94, two months after the death of former vice premier Deng Xiaoping, and was eulogized with high honours by the highest organs of the party and the state.

The obituary also curiously made mention of his support of Deng Xiaoping's 1992 "southern tour" which re-ignited economic reforms after relative stagnation following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre.