in 1918, he served as Minister of Finance in 1920, under Xu Shichang. As finance minister, he lost a power struggle against Premier Jin Yunpeng in 1921, and was compelled to resign. Seeking revenge, he convinced Zhang Zuolin to replace the premier with Liang Shiyi, the head of the civilian Communications Clique. That same year, he served as a member of the Chinese delegation to the Washington Naval Conference, before his resignation due to the "negative results" of the conference. Zhou also served as President of the Bank of China, Minister of Communication, Minister of Military, Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, and the Inspector General of Salt. In 1922, he briefly served as acting premier and acting president, after the resignation of Liang as premier (due to illness), and, later, Xu as President. His presidency, the shortest in Chinese history, was an interim one, as the Zhili clique tried to woo Li Yuanhong back into office. Having succeeded, but complaining of Zhili interference, he left to study film-making in the United States, later returning to China to start a film studio. He died on Oct 21, 1923 at his home in Beijing. References |- |- Presidents of the Republic of China 1869 births 1923 deaths Premiers of the Republic of China Columbia University alumni Recipients of Chinese presidential pardons Politicians from Chaozhou Republic of China politicians from Guangdong Progressive Party (China) politicians 20th-century Chinese heads of government Governors of Shandong Chinese filmmakers