After the surrender of Japan in 1945, the former Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo in Northeast China became a major area of contention between the Communists and the Kuomintang. The CPC Central Committee sent a six-person team to Shenyang to negotiate with the Soviet Union which had taken over the region from Japan. To facilitate their negotiation with Soviet commanders who held military ranks, the CPC awarded Peng Zhen, Chen Yun and Ye the rank of lieutenant general, Wu Xiuquan the rank of major general, and two other officers the rank of colonel. It was the first time the CPC issued military ranks. Ye served as Minister of Finance and Minister of Commerce in the , the transitional government in the Northeast in preparation for the establishment of the People's Republic of China. With the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in October 1949, Ye was appointed the country's first Minister of Trade. In August 1952, the ministry's foreign trade division was expanded into the Ministry of Foreign Trade, and Ye became its inaugural minister. It was a large ministry with many layers of organization, which served not only commercial, but also diplomatic functions. Ye served as head of the important ministry until his death in 1967. A major task of his was to circumvent the trade embargo against the PRC by the United States and its allies. Under the leadership of Zhou Enlai, he developed trade relations with Asian and African countries and signed China's first trade deal with Ceylon. After the Sino-Soviet split, Ye played a key role in China's export drive in order to repay Soviet debts and finance grain purchases from abroad. Ye suffered a stroke in 1961 when he was on an official trip in Guangzhou. He became incapacitated by another stroke in 1964, and his deputy Lin Haiyun took over as acting minister in 1965. Already in very poor health, Ye came under persecution when the Cultural Revolution began in 1966. He was pressured to incriminate his former superior Deng Xiaoping, but refused to do so. As he was bedridden, his doctors prevented the Red Guards from taking him to struggle sessions, and his wife Ma Luzhen () was taken in his place. Ye died on 27 June 1967 at the age of 74. He was politically rehabilitated after the end of the Cultural Revolution. He is now recognized as an essential figure in the logistics of the People's Liberation Army during wartime, and the management of foreign trade of the early PRC. He is honoured as the "Red Manager" of the Communist Party.