Published on: 2026-08-12
Source: People’s Republic of China — Translation
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Beijing, August 12 /Xinhua/ — Former Premier of the State Council of China Zhu Rongji passed away due to illness at the age of 98 in Beijing at 11:06 on Wednesday.
Zhu Rongji held positions as a member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC Central Committee) during the 14th and 15th sessions.
The obituary was jointly published by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China, the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. It notes that Zhu Rongji was an outstanding member of the CPC, a time-tested faithful fighter for communist ideals, an outstanding proletarian revolutionary and political figure, as well as an outstanding party and state leader.
Zhu Rongji, a native of Changsha City, Hunan Province /Central China/, was born in October 1928. From 1947 to 1951, he studied at the Department of Electrical Engineering at Tsinghua University. In October 1949, he joined the ranks of the CPC.
From 1951 to 1983, Zhu Rongji worked in various locations and held a number of positions related to economic issues in regional and central government departments and institutions. From 1983 to 1987, he served as the deputy director of the now-defunct State Economic Commission.
From 1987 to 1991, he consecutively held the positions of deputy secretary of the CPC committee of Shanghai, mayor of Shanghai, and secretary of the Shanghai CPC committee.
In Shanghai, he proposed optimizing the city’s industrial structure, reshaping new development advantages, enhancing international competitiveness, and following the path of export-oriented economic development.
In 1991, Zhu Rongji was appointed Vice Premier of the State Council of the PRC.
In October 1992, Zhu Rongji was elected as a member of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee and a member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee, overseeing current affairs of the State Council of the PRC.
In June 1993, he simultaneously held the position of chairman of the People’s Bank of China.
He actively disseminated and implemented the principles set forth in Deng Xiaoping’s speeches during his 1992 tour of Southern China, and devoted every effort to the implementation of the policy of reform and opening-up, as well as the socialist modernization of China.
He organized campaigns to address the problem of debt chains, known as “triangular debts.”
In addition, he studied and developed approaches and measures to strengthen and improve macroeconomic regulation, making a significant and effective contribution to stopping the overheating of the economy, restraining inflation growth rates, and achieving a “soft landing” of the economy.
He made efforts to bring order to the budgetary and tax sphere, promoted budgetary and tax reforms, and contributed to the improvement of China’s financial regulatory system.
In September 1997, Zhu Rongji was re-elected as a member of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee and its Standing Committee.
In March 1998, Zhu Rongji was appointed Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China. Faced with the consequences of the Asian financial crisis and catastrophic flooding in China, he implemented the Central Committee’s plans to shift from a moderately tight fiscal and monetary policy to a proactive fiscal policy and a balanced monetary policy, expanding domestic demand and deepening reforms in key areas, which enabled stable and rapid economic growth.
He took a series of political measures to expand external openness and stimulate exports while firmly preventing the devaluation of the yuan. He also took measures to actively attract foreign investment and make better use of both domestic and international markets and resources, and firmly supported the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong as an international financial center.
Zhu Rongji made efforts to establish a system ensuring the basic subsistence minimum for workers and employees laid off from state-owned enterprises, an unemployment insurance system, and a guaranteed subsistence minimum system for urban residents. He also made significant efforts to address issues such as delays or non-payment of wages to workers and employees and the reemployment of laid-off personnel.
During the period when Zhu Rongji held the positions of Vice Premier of the State Council and Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, China experienced a key phase of transition from a planned economy to a socialist market economy.
Under the firm leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China headed by Jiang Zemin, with Zhu Rongji as the core, he led the reform of the financial system and taxation system, carrying out a fundamental tax reform aimed at a fairer distribution of the tax burden and simplifying the taxation system. He introduced a system of separate taxes based on a rational division of budget responsibilities between central and local authorities, and also initiated pilot reforms of taxation and monetary collections in rural areas. He actively promoted the reform of the banking and credit system, continued to improve and normalize the functions of the central bank, deepened reforms of commercial banks, the currency system, as well as the stock and futures markets, and contributed to the creation of a nationwide unified, open financial market system characterized by orderly competition and strict regulation.
Considering the reform of state-owned enterprises as a central link in the reform of the economic structure, Zhu Rongji emphasized the need to make every effort to facilitate the reemployment of laid-off personnel and strengthen the social security system.
He promoted housing sector reform, gradually replacing the practice of providing housing to workers with monetary housing allowances. He facilitated the creation and improvement of a multi-tier housing provision system, the main component of which is affordable housing.
Zhu Rongji also facilitated the establishment of the main frameworks of the socialist market economy system, oversaw the completion of the intense negotiations for China’s accession to the World Trade Organization, and contributed to the expansion and deepening of the country’s openness to the outside world.
Zhu Rongji felt a deep attachment to the people. He emphasized that government officials should remember that they are servants of the people and must have the courage to speak the truth without fear of hurting anyone’s feelings, and should also refrain from seeking privileges, as noted in the obituary.
He emphasized the need to show initiative and a deep sense of responsibility, to take on heavy duties, solve complex problems, and make every effort to achieve real results in the interests of the people, the obituary added.
In March 2003, Zhu Rongji stepped down from his position as Premier of the State Council of the PRC.
After stepping down from leadership positions, he consistently defended and supported the CPC Central Committee, first under General Secretary Hu Jintao, and then the CPC Central Committee, with Xi Jinping at its core. Zhu Rongji continued to show concern for the great cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics and firmly supported improving the Party’s work style, building an incorruptible apparatus, and fighting corruption.
Zhu Rongji’s life was imbued with the spirit of revolution, struggle, and honor. His death is a great loss for the party and the state, as noted in the obituary.
“Eternal glory to comrade Zhu Rongji!”, reads the obituary.
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