Zhu Rongji, China’s reformist ex-premier, dies at 97

Leader Xi Jinping has claimed former Premier Zhu Rongji’s legacy of economic opening while suppressing memories of a more candid and less tightly controlled era.

Chinese President Xi Jinping led the party elite to pay a final tribute to former premier Zhu Rongji who was cremated on Tuesday as national flags were lowered to half mast. Zhu, who died of an illness in Beijing last Wednesday aged 97, served as premier from 1998 to 2003 and is regarded as the chief engineer of the country’s economic reform. He played a pivotal role in transitioning China towards a market-based economy and steered its entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), which paved...

Former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji was mourned on Tuesday with lowered flags and social media commemorations, ahead of a funeral for the reforming trailblazer who died last week at 97. Known for his decisive restructuring of the Chinese economy during a five-year premiership starting in 1998, Zhu has been praised since his Wednesday passing by […]

Zhu Rongji, the no-nonsense reformer who died last week, helped drive the hard-edged economic overhaul in the 1990s.

Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji’s recent death elicited widespread accolades for his role in pushing the market-oriented reforms that unleashed decades of economic growth. But Zhu also oversaw two major policy shifts that have had dire implications for China’s demographic outlook.

Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji died aged 97 on Wednesday (Aug 12), five days before former President Jiang Zemin’s birth centenary. The convergence puts renewed focus on their reform-era legacies - and Beijing’s balancing act in celebrating them, analysts say.

Credited as a co-engineer of one of the greatest economic reforms in human history, former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji died on August 12, 2026, at the age of 97. We have put together seven stories from the South China Morning Post’s coverage of Zhu’s death. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Zhu Rongji, China’s chief engineer of economic reform, dies aged 97 2. Zhu Rongji: leading China’s transformation through ‘minefield or abyss’ “Regardless of what...

Turn-of-the-century images of Zhu Rongji alongside former US president Bill Clinton have largely accompanied coverage following the former Chinese premier’s death on Wednesday. The moment in April 1999 was more than a diplomatic milestone. It underpinned some of China’s most consequential reforms that defined Zhu’s tenure, from its drive to join the World Trade Organization to an overhaul of the state sector and opening its markets to the world. And in recent years, Zhu’s historic trip to...

Former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji, the driver of the nation’s economic reforms, died on Wednesday aged 97 following an illness. Zhu spearheaded China’s 2001 accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), paving the way for an export boom that fuelled the country’s transformation into the world’s second-biggest economy. He also oversaw domestic market reforms that included closing hundreds of loss-making state enterprises and laying off some 30 million workers. The former Shanghai mayor was...

Zhu dragged back the Chinese economy from over-heating in the early 1990s, and then as premier pushed through reforms that shut or privatised many state-owned firms

BEIJING — Former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji, whose market reforms helped drive the country’s extraordinary economic rise, died Wednesday at the age of 97. Zhu became premier in 1998 and swiftly lived up to his reputation as a hard-hitting free marketeer. Among his best-known reforms were a broad program to privatize unprofitable state-owned enterprises, the privatization of urban housing and the promotion of home ownership. READ: China wants Ayungin ship gone since ’99 He passed away from illness in Beijing late Wednesday morning “after medical treatment failed to save him”, state news agency Xinhua said. “The life of comrade Zhu Rongji […]...Keep on reading: Former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji dies aged 97

Zhu Rongji, born on October 23, 1928, died on August 12, 2026. He had been a prime minister, and a great modernizer of China’s financial system. Yet his legacy seems to have faded. Premier Zhu was the man who pushed for China to join the World Trade Organization. He wanted China to be fully integrated […] The post Goodbye, Comrade Zhu Rongji appeared first on Asia Times.

Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, the impatient, sharp-tongued reformer who helped ignite China’s explosive economic boom by forcing wrenching change on state industry in the 1990s and leading…

A titan of pragmatic reform is gone, aged 97

“Regardless of what lies ahead – be it a minefield or a deep abyss – I will forge ahead unswervingly, dedicating my entire life and energy to the country until my dying day.” Those words, spoken at the dawn of his premiership, came to define Zhu Rongji, China’s towering economic reformer who died in Beijing on Wednesday. He was 97. His remarks at a press conference in 1998 came as China was undertaking sweeping state-owned enterprise (SOE) reforms that caused widespread job losses, even as it...

The former premier pushed through a dizzying array of changes in China’s top economic post from 1998 to 2003

Former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji, whose market reforms helped drive the country’s extraordinary economic rise, died on Wednesday at the age of 97. Zhu became premier in 1998 and swiftly lived up to his 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. He passed away from illness in Beijing late Wednesday morning “after medical treatment failed to save him”, state news agency Xinhua reported. “The life of comrade Zhu Rongji was a life of revolution, a life of struggle, a life of glory,” an obituary jointly issued by China’s top political bodies said, according to Xinhua. “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.” Reforms under Zhu sparked a boom in real estate and construction, which would soar to become a quarter of China’s economy before a crippling debt crisis struck in 2020. His leadership was credited with helping China avoid the worst of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, bucking a global trend. He also led negotiations for China’s accession to the World Trade Organisation in 2001 — a move seen as consolidating the country’s transformation from an isolated economy under Mao Zedong to the marketplace of the world. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took to X to express his condolences to Xi, sitting Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Zhu’s family and the Chinese public. “Deeply saddened by the passing of former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji, a great leader and a good friend of Pakistan,” he wrote. “Pakistan shares the grief of our iron brother China at this sad hour.” ‘Outstanding leader’ Zhu was “an outstanding member of the Communist Party of China, a long-tested and loyal communist fighter … [and] an outstanding leader of the Party and the state”, his obituary said. But Zhu’s brand of market reformism, which lifted millions out of poverty but unleashed inequality, fell out of vogue with the ascent of Xi Jinping in 2012. Xi has condemned runaway capitalism and sought to move China onto a more balanced development path, as well as cracking down on excessive displays of wealth and private firms seen as monopolistic. Elderly men talk next to a giant screen broadcasting a portrait of late former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, in Beijing, China on August 12, 2026. — Reuters “We must turn our grief into strength, learn from [Zhu’s] revolutionary spirit, noble character and fine conduct, and rally even more closely around the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core,” the obituary read. News of his death quickly shot to the top trending on social media platform Weibo, with the topic gaining more than 190 million views just hours after it was announced. “The people’s good premier, go in peace,” read one comment under the news on Weibo with more than 17,000 likes. Others left candle emojis in remembrance.

BEIJING, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji died of illness at the age of 98 in Beijing at 11:06 a.m. Wednesday. Zhu had served as a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 14th and 15th Central Committees of the Communist Party of China (CPC). An obituary, jointly issued by the CPC Central Committee, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the

Zhu was closely associated with the reformist economic approach of Deng Xiaoping, widely regarded as the architect of China's post-Mao economic transformation.

Zhu's leadership was credited with helping China avoid the worst of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, bucking a global trend.

Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, who died on Wednesday aged 97, was never one to mince his words. When the four-volume selection of his speeches came out in 2011, they shocked readers with his description of “tofu dregs” flood dykes built by “parasites”, and erring bankers labelled as “half-wits”. It was little wonder that his […]

State news agency Xinhua said Zhu Rongji died in Beijing late Wednesday morning 'after medical treatment failed to save him'.

Zhu was renowned for reforms that sought to transition China from the post-Maoist years to a more global market-oriented financial system, without ceding party control over the economy.

Former China premier Zhu Rongji reform architect and WTO driver dies at

Former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji, who drove economic reforms and led China into the World Trade Organization, has died after an illness.

Zhu brought China into the WTO and championed reforms that fuelled growth.

BEIJING — Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji has died, according to state media. The impatient, sharp-tongued reformer helped ignite China’s explosive economic boom by forcing wrenching change on state industry in the 1990s and leading the country into the World Trade Organization. The official Xinhua news agency reported that Zhu died of illness in Beijing at around 11 a.m. on Wednesday. He was 97 years old. Once sent into rural exile to do manual labor for praising reforms in other communist countries, Zhu pushed through a dizzying array of changes as premier, China’s top economic post, from 1998 to 2003. Zhu clashed with Communist Party conservatives and state industry bosses as he pushed state-owned companies to become efficient and profitable. That cost millions of layoffs, but helped propel China to overtake Japan as the second-largest economy behind the United States in 2010. Building on former leader Deng Xiaoping’s 1979 reforms, Zhu is credited with supplying the resourcefulness and tenacity to push through history-making changes such as China’s WTO membership, which he

Zhu was once sent to do manual labor.

Building on former leader Deng Xiaoping's 1979 reforms, Zhu Rongji is credited with supplying the resourcefulness and tenacity to push through history-making changes such as China's WTO membership

Zhu Rongji, who as China's premier pushed through a dizzying array of changes that helped ignite China's explosive economic boom, has died at 97.

Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji has died, according to state media. The impatient, sharp-tongued reformer helped ignite China’s explosive economic boom by forcing wrenching change on state industry in the 1990s and leading the country into the World Trade Organization. The official Xinhua news agency reported that Zhu died of illness in Beijing at around 11 a.m. today (Wednesday). He was 97 years old. Once sent into rural exile to do manual labor for praising reforms in other communist countries, Zhu pushed through a dizzying array of changes as premier, China’s top economic post, from 1998 to 2003. Zhu clashed […] The post Ex-Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, architect of growth, dies of illness at 97 appeared first on MACAU DAILY TIMES 澳門每日時報.

He helped push the reforms that transformed China from a beleaguered holdout against the collapse of Soviet-style Communism in the early 1990s to an emerging superpower with economic growth rates envied by other governments

BEIJING, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji died of illness at the age of 98 in Beijing at 11:06 a.m. Wednesday.Zhu had served as a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 14th and 15th Central Committees of the Communist Party of China (CPC).An obituary, jointly issued by the CPC Central Committee, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the St

He negotiated China’s entry into the World Trade Organization and pushed through reforms that breathed new life into China’s state-directed economy.

Zhu Rongji helped push reforms that transformed China from a beleaguered hold-out against the collapse of Soviet-style Communism in the early 1990s to an emerging superpower.

As a vice premier and then premier, he helped transform China into the world’s leading manufacturing power and led his country into the World Trade Organization.

Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji has died, according to state media

Former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji, whose market reforms helped drive China’s extraordinary economic rise, has died from illness at the age of 97, state media reported Wednesday. “Former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji died of illness at the age of 98 in Beijing at 11:06 a.m. Wednesday,” Xinhua news agency reported. Breaking news – refresh for […]

Zhu Rongji, who as China’s premier pushed through reforms at state-owned companies that cost tens of millions of workers their jobs, and who helped engineer China’s entry into the World Trade Organization, has died. He was 98.

Zhu Rongji, who as China’s premier pushed through reforms at state-owned companies that cost tens of millions of workers their jobs, and who helped engineer China’s entry into the World Trade Organization, has died. He was 97.

Former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji, who earned a reputation as an economic reformer, has died. He was 97. Zhu, who served as China’s premier from 1998 to 2003, is remembered for tackling corruption, shaking up the centrally planned economy and overhauling the state-owned enterprise (SOE) sector. He also played a leading role in securing China’s entry into the World Trade Organization. Born in 1928 in Changsha, the capital of the central province of Hunan, Zhu graduated from Tsinghua University in...