[1] After the People's Republic of China was founded, Chen carried out the work of land reform, bandit suppression and post-war recovery in Jiangsu.

His outstanding performance in completing land reform and suppressing bandits once earned him the praise of Mao Zedong.

[citation needed] In 1967, Chen was ousted from power during the January Storm by radical elements led by Zhang Chunqiao.

[citation needed] On September 9, 1974, Chen wrote a letter to Mao in hopes of assigned a job, or to be released from isolation and participate in collective study, to no avail, due to Zhang and others' efforts to obstruct Chen's return to politics.

[2] On February 20, 1975, Chen wrote to the recently rehabilitated Deng Xiaoping saying, "I have not yet returned to my organisational life and salary.

Deng promptly wrote to Mao, requesting that he be considered for a transfer to Beijing and then be assigned a job in one of China's provinces due to his relative youth and abilities, simultaneously citing Chen's many requests for receiving medical treatment in Beijing.

On October 12 of the same year, Chen was flown to Beijing and stayed at the guesthouse of the Organization Department of the Chinese Communist Party.