 In 1981, Hu became CPC Chairman, but helped abolish the position of Party chairman in 1982, as part of a broader effort to distance China from Maoist politics.Most of the chairman's functions were transferred to the post of General Secretary, a post taken by Hu.Deng's displacement of Hua Guofeng marked the Party leadership's consensus that China should abandon strict Maoist economics in favor of more pragmatic policies, and Hu directed many of Deng's attempts to reform the Chinese economy.