Former premier died last week at 98
The remains of late leader Zhu Rongji will be cremated in Beijing on Tuesday.
Zhu, who passed away on Aug 12 at the age of 98, 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), and premier of the State Council.
To mourn his death, national flags will fly at half-mast on Tuesday at Tian’anmen Square, Xinhuamen, the Great Hall of the People, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, seats of provincial-level committees of the CPC and provincial-level governments, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macao Special Administrative Region, border ports, seaports and airports, and Chinese embassies and consulates.
Zhu was praised in an obituary jointly issued by the CPC Central Committee, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the State Council and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, as an excellent Party member, a time-tested and loyal communist fighter, and an outstanding proletarian revolutionist, statesman and leader of the Party and the state.
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”, Xinhua said.
“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. — Xinhua/AFP
