China mourns former premier Zhu Rongji with flags lowered, funeral

Former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji was mourned on Tuesday with flags lowered and tributes shared on social media, ahead of the funeral of the reforming trailblazer who died last week at the age of 97.

Known for decisively restructuring China’s economy during his five-year premiership from 1998, Zhu was praised after his death by state news agency Xinhua as “an outstanding proletarian revolutionist (and) statesman”.

Flags were lowered at government buildings across Beijing on Tuesday, AFP journalists saw, as well as at Tiananmen Square, the expansive and highly secured site in the centre of the capital.

Online, tributes to Zhu at Tiananmen Square were the top trending topic on Chinese microblogging platform Weibo.

“Thank you for everything you have done for this land – we will always remember you,” one commenter wrote on Weibo.

Zhu's remains will be cremated in Beijing on Tuesday, Xinhua reported on Sunday. A farewell gathering attended by senior leaders of China’s ruling Communist Party is expected to take place beforehand, in line with standard protocol.

Born in 1928 in central China, Zhu rose through the ranks of the Communist Party following the 1949 revolution led by Mao Zedong. His political career included serving as mayor of Shanghai, national vice premier and premier.

His premiership coincided with the presidency of Jiang Zemin, the gregarious, bespectacled economic reformer who died in 2022.

Zhu became known for his anti-corruption campaign, the controversial dismantling of inefficient state-owned enterprises and efforts to integrate China into the global economy.

Asked once by a reporter how he wanted to be remembered, Zhu said: “I only hope that after I step down, people across the country will say that 'he was an honest official, not a corrupt one', and I'll be very satisfied with that.”