Zhu Rongji’s Remains to Be Cremated, Flags at Half-Mast Nationwide

The remains of Zhu Rongji, China’s former Premier and one of the principal architects of the country’s market-oriented reforms, will be cremated on August 18 in Beijing, according to Xinhua News Agency. Flags will fly at half-mast at Tiananmen Square, the Great Hall of the People, and across government institutions nationwide, as well as at Chinese diplomatic missions abroad, to honor the late leader who died on August 12 at age 98.

A Life of Reform and Resilience

Zhu Rongji, who served as Premier of the State Council from 1998 to 2003, died in Beijing at 11:06 a.m. on August 12 after treatment for illness proved ineffective, according to the official obituary jointly issued by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the State Council, and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. The obituary described Zhu as “an outstanding member of the Chinese Communist Party, a tested and loyal communist fighter, an outstanding proletarian revolutionary and statesman, and an outstanding leader of the Party and the state.”

Born in Changsha, Hunan Province in 1928, Zhu’s political journey was marked by extraordinary resilience. He joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1949 and entered Tsinghua University to study electrical engineering, but was expelled from the party during the Anti-Rightist Campaign in 1958, spending 20 years in obscurity, including five years of farm labor during the Cultural Revolution. His party membership was restored in 1978, and he rose rapidly through the economic policy establishment, becoming Mayor of Shanghai in 1988 before being promoted by Deng Xiaoping to Vice Premier in 1991.

Architect of China’s Economic Transformation

Zhu is widely credited as the driving force behind China’s transition from a planned economy to a market-oriented system. During his tenure, he led sweeping reforms in taxation, finance, state-owned enterprises, housing, and grain circulation. His privatization of thousands of state-owned enterprises under the “grasp the large, let go of the small” policy reshaped China’s industrial landscape, while his 1994 tax reform shifted revenue from local to central government, strengthening Beijing’s fiscal capacity.

Perhaps his most consequential achievement was completing negotiations for China’s accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001. According to Lianhe Zaobao, Xu Bingjin, a former WTO negotiation aide to Zhu, recalled that the talks were like “bargaining at a market, and finally reaching a compromise. Sometimes when arguments got intense, people would even pound the table.” Former US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer later acknowledged that “Zhu Rongji and China clearly got a more favorable deal.”

However, Zhu’s reforms also carried significant social costs. The SOE privatization wave led to tens of millions of workers losing their jobs, creating what became known as the “downsizing wave” (下岗潮). MIT economist Huang Yasheng told The New York Times that more than 30 million state-owned enterprise workers lost their jobs, many without a proper social safety net in place. “His economic legacy is very complex,” Huang said. “He used his left hand to create problems and his right hand to solve them.”

Public Mourning and Nostalgia

News of Zhu’s death quickly became the top trending search on Sina Weibo, with related topics accumulating more than 190 million views within hours, according to Wikipedia. Many users recalled his famous anti-corruption remark from 1998: “I have prepared 100 coffins, 99 for corrupt officials and one for myself,” as well as his blistering criticism of shoddy flood-control projects during the 1998 Yangtze floods, which he called “tofu-dreg projects.”

Members of the public laid flowers at Zhu’s ancestral home “Tian Yuan” in Changsha, Hunan Province, where security personnel managed the flow of mourners. One bouquet carried the message: “May you go well, the people’s good premier, you will live forever in people’s hearts.” As Lianhe Zaobao reported, the public mourning reflected nostalgia for the “Jiang-Zhu era” of faster reform and relative openness, with many contrasting Zhu’s outspoken style with the more controlled political environment of today.

In Hong Kong, where Zhu remained the most popular cross-strait political figure in opinion polls for 12 consecutive years, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu expressed deep sorrow, noting Zhu’s support during the Asian Financial Crisis. In Macau, Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai said the people of Macau would always remember Zhu’s concern for the territory, according to Macau Post Daily.

International Condolences

Leaders from around the world expressed condolences following Zhu’s death. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi sent messages to Chinese leaders, and the Japanese Embassy in Beijing lowered its flag to half-mast, posting photographs on social media, as reported by RFI. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim described Zhu as “one of the great architects of China’s economic transformation and a good friend,” recalling their work together in the 1990s to deepen economic ties between Malaysia and China, according to Malay Mail.

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, and US Ambassador to China David Perdue were among the many international figures who offered condolences. Apple CEO Tim Cook also expressed his condolences on Weibo, recalling his meetings with Zhu.

A Complex Legacy

Zhu’s legacy remains deeply contested. For many, he embodied the promise of China’s reform era—a leader who dared to speak truth to power and pushed the country toward global economic integration. His blunt, outspoken style, captured in his famous quip about the media—“What does ‘positive reporting as the main focus’ mean? Does it mean 99% should be positive reports? I think 51% would be fine too”—stands in stark contrast to the more scripted political discourse of today.

Yet as BBC Chinese noted, his reforms also had a darker side. The mass layoffs, the rural neglect, and the groundwork laid for later trade imbalances and local government debt problems continue to generate debate. Zhu himself said he hoped people would remember him as an “honest official” who accomplished several practical things.

What to Watch For

As the nation prepares for the cremation ceremony on August 18, attention will focus on the official farewell proceedings and the tone of commemorations. The obituary’s call for unity around the Party Central Committee with Xi Jinping at its core signals the party’s determination to frame Zhu’s legacy within the current political narrative. Whether the public’s nostalgia for the reform era translates into broader political reflection remains an open question, but for now, the focus is on bidding farewell to a leader who, in the words of the official obituary, lived “a life of revolution, a life of struggle, and a glorious life.”

According to RFI, the half-mast flag arrangements on August 18 will extend to Tiananmen, Xinhua Gate, the Great Hall of the People, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, all provincial and municipal government seats, the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions, border checkpoints, international seaports and airports, and Chinese embassies and consulates abroad—a final national tribute to the man who helped shape modern China’s economic destiny.