Qian Sijie (1928) is a native of Pingyin, Shandong Province. He joined the revolution in 1946 and joined the People's Liberation Army. a He became a famous photojournalist with Xinhua News Agency and headed the photography group of the press office of the negotiation delegation during the "Panmunjom Negotiations" that would lead to the 1953 ceasefire in the Korean War.

In 1955, Qian Sijie participated in the Bandung Conference, the first Asian-African Conference, as the Xinhua News Agency photographer.

From 1964-1970, Qian served as Mao Zedong's full-time photographer. His photographs of Mao during his 1966 swimming bout in the Yangzi are seen as among his major works.