Former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji was mourned on Tuesday with lowered flags and social media commemorations, as top leaders attended 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 was praised as "an outstanding proletarian revolutionist (and) statesman" when his death was announced Wednesday by state news agency Xinhua.
Flags were lowered at government buildings across Beijing on Tuesday, AFP journalists saw, as well as on Tiananmen Square, the expansive and highly securitised site in the capital's centre.
Online, the Tiananmen tribute was the top trending topic on Chinese microblogging site Weibo.
"Thank you for everything you have done for this land -- we will always remember you," wrote one commenter on Weibo.
Zhu's remains were cremated on Tuesday at Beijing's Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery, state broadcaster CCTV said, with a farewell gathering that was attended by senior leaders of China's ruling Communist Party, including President Xi Jinping.
Zhu's "remains lay at rest amidst fresh flowers and evergreen cypress branches, draped in the bright red flag of the Communist Party of China", CCTV said.
At around 9:30 am (0130 GMT), Xi and top leaders including Premier Li Qiang "walked slowly to the side of Comrade Zhu Rongji's remains amidst the strains of funeral music", it added.
They "stood in solemn silence, bowed three times to pay their respects, and shook hands with Comrade Zhu Rongji's family members" to offer their condolences, CCTV reported.
Born in 1928 in central China and later ascending the ranks of the party following the 1949 culmination of a revolution led by Mao Zedong, Zhu's political roles included being mayor of Shanghai, followed by 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 ardent anti-corruption drive, controversial dismantling of inefficient state-owned firms and integration of China with the global economy.
Asked once by a reporter how he'd like 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".
Latest stories
Wirtschaft 204.000 Tonnen weniger als im Vorjahr: Apfelernte voraussichtlich schlecht
Die Apfelernte fällt in diesem Jahr voraussichtlich deutlich unterdurchschnittlich aus. Die Betriebe erwarten eine Ernte von 934.000 Tonnen - 5,4 Prozent weniger als im Zehnjahresdurchschnitt, wie das Statistische Bundesamt in Wiesbaden am Dienstag mitteilte. "Die besonders gute Apfelernte des Vorjahres wird voraussichtlich um...
Sports Infantino-Schreiben: AFC-Chef wehrt sich gegen Kritik aus Katar
Der FIFA-Machtkampf führt zunehmend auch zu Spannungen innerhalb des Asiatischen Fußballverbandes (AFC). Nachdem Katars Verbandschef Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani das Zustandekommen des gemeinsamen Schreibens der asiatischen Konföderation, UEFA und CONCACAF gegen Gianni Infantino kritisiert hatte, wehrte sich AFC-Präsident Scheich Salman bin Ibrahim...
Topthemen Behörden: Feuerwehr will Brand im Osten Belgiens "endgültig einkreisen"
Die belgische Feuerwehr ist nach Behördenangaben entschlossen, den Brand im belgischen Naturschutzgebiet Hohes Venn am Dienstag vollständig unter Kontrolle zu bringen. Wegen "problematischer Bedingungen" sei es am Montag nicht möglich gewesen den Ring um das Feuer komplett zu schließen, sagte Verwaltungssprecher Nicolas Yernaux...