Zhu Rongji, Chinese premier who cajoled economy into modern era, dies at 97

Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, who died on Wednesday aged 97, was known for his outspoken and direct style.

When a four-volume selection of his speeches was published in 2011, it drew widespread attention for his descriptions of poorly built flood dykes as "tofu dregs" and erring bankers as "half-wits".

His blunt comments from his years in power became best-sellers in China, where leaders were often seen as cautious and restrained in their public statements.

The publication of speeches from Zhu's time as vice premier from 1991 to 1998 and premier until early 2003 also reflected wider concerns in China as the country approached a leadership transition that eventually brought Xi Jinping to power.

Reformist former officials and intellectuals viewed the 2,042 pages of Zhu's speeches as a reflection of the growing conservatism and conformity among contemporary leaders. Magazine editors and internet users closely examined the volumes for comments they believed could offer lessons for the present.

Many of the economic problems that confronted China as Xi prepared to take power also featured prominently in Zhu's speeches, including local government debt, reckless bank lending, inflation, rapid urban growth and corruption.

"Our country faces many potential crises that could erupt at any time," Zhu said in early 1998. "Ordinary people are discontent about us in many ways. Especially, there is corruption among officials, the gulf between rich and poor, and the way some local officials act like tyrants."

Zhu graduated from Beijing's Tsinghua University and joined the Communist Party in 1949, the year Mao Zedong declared the People's Republic of China.

He was sent to the countryside during the Cultural Revolution and gradually rose through the ranks after being politically rehabilitated. He became mayor of Shanghai in 1987 and oversaw the city's early transformation into the global financial hub it is today.

Zhu moved to Beijing in 1991 to work for the central government, where he helped advance reforms that transformed China from an economy struggling with the collapse of Soviet-style communism into an emerging global power.

He helped cool an overheating Chinese economy in the early 1990s and, as premier, pushed through reforms that closed or privatised many state-owned enterprises and laid off workers. He also transferred greater tax authority from local governments to the central government and introduced housing ownership reforms that helped trigger a major real-estate boom.

One of his biggest achievements was helping secure China's entry into the World Trade Organization in 2002 after lengthy negotiations. Many Chinese officials at the time feared that the concessions made to secure membership could weaken the domestic economy.

Zhu's tenure was not considered an unqualified success by all Chinese observers. Critics said policies on grain production, tax distribution and the closure of state-owned factories created problems that later governments had to address.

Zhou Ruijin, a former senior editor of the People's Daily, said in a 2011 interview that China's leaders at the time had much to learn from Zhu.

"The Zhu Rongji era was one of promoting big reforms, and it nurtured a group of brave risk-takers who were at the forefront of pioneering a market economy," Zhou said.

"Today ... there is still potential for big steps in reform."