Cheng Zihua (Chinese: 程子华; June 20, 1905 – March 30, 1991) was a People's Republic of China politician and military general.

Cheng was an important part of the Third Front campaign to develop basic and national defense industry in China's interior.

[2]: 97  Cheng wrote in his memoirs, "Preparing for war was absolutely necessary" because (1) the United States "had launched a war of aggression against Vietnam at our southern border" and (2) because of increasing Soviet hostility towards China, "the situation at our northern border was very tense.."[2]: 97  In Cheng's ultimate evaluation, the Third Front was a major success because it had rectified "the almost total lack of industry in the interior" which had existed before 1949 and persisted into the 1960s.

[2]: 97 As part of his work on the Third Front, Cheng led an investigative team that conducted regional surveys to start preparations for the Chengdu-Kunming railroad and industrial complexes near Panzhihua, Liupanshui, and Chongqing.

[2]: 170 Before beginning to conduct the surveys, Cheng led the team to study Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai's comments on the Third Front in order to emphasize the importance of the Third Front campaign;[2]: 125–126  Cheng also led the team in discussion sessions focused on Mao's texts On Practice, On Contradiction, and Oppose Book Worship in a further effort to build ideological cohesion among the team.