Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji has died after an illness, marking the loss of one of China’s most influential economic reformers who rose to prominence for championing market-oriented policies during his tenure as premier from 1998.
(FILES) China’s former premier Zhu Rongji (C) shakes hands with a delegate at the opening of the 18th Communist Party Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on November 8, 2012…AFP
Former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji, whose market reforms helped drive the country’s extraordinary economic rise, died from illness on Wednesday at the age of 97, state media reported.
An obituary jointly issued by China’s top political bodies and carried by Xinhua said he had passed away in Beijing late Wednesday morning “after medical treatment failed to save him”.
Zhu became premier in 1998, and swiftly established a reputation as a hard-hitting free marketeer.
Among his best-known reforms were a broad programme to privatise unprofitable state-owned enterprises, the privatisation of urban housing and the promotion of home ownership.
Zhu was “an outstanding member of the Communist Party of China, a long-tested and loyal communist fighter,” Xinhua quoted his obituary as saying.
“The life of comrade Zhu Rongji was a life of revolution, a life of struggle, a life of glory,” it said.
“It was a life dedicated wholeheartedly to serving the people, one given to the communist cause. His passing is a major loss for the Party and the country.”
