Zhu Rongji, the former premier of the China State Council who led China's economic reforms and entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), died on the 12th. He was 98.
On this day, according to China's state-run Xinhua News Agency, the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, the State Council, and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference announced in an obituary that the former premier died in Beijing at 11:06 a.m. while being treated for illness.
Former Premier Zhu Rongji (1928–2026) is regarded as one of the most respected politicians of his generation in China. After repeated falls and rehabilitations amid the turbulence of modern Chinese history, he rose to a position responsible for China's economy and, through bold reform and opening policies, helped build today's economic powerhouse.
He was born in 1928 in Changsha, Hunan province. He lost his father before birth and his mother around age 9, and he was raised by his uncle. In 1947, he entered the prestigious Tsinghua University to major in electric machinery manufacturing, and in 1949 he joined the Communist Party of China.
After graduating from college in 1951, he built a career as an economic official at the Northeast People's Government and the State Planning Commission (now the National Development and Reform Commission), but he was caught up in the great upheavals of modern Chinese history—the Anti-Rightist Movement (1957–1958) and the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976).
In 1957, opinions he presented within the State Planning Commission, in line with the Party's rectification campaign guidelines, became grounds to classify him as a "rightist element." After being demoted, he was pushed out of frontline work until 1962, and although he returned to duties at the State Planning Commission afterward, he faced trials again when the Cultural Revolution began. From 1970 to 1975, he had to do manual labor on a collective farm.
The former premier's full-fledged comeback as an economic official began in 1978, when reform and opening started under Deng Xiaoping's leadership. He was promoted through posts at the State Economic Commission as Minister of the Bureau of Fuel and Power, deputy director of the General Affairs Department, and director of the Technological Transformation Department, and in 1987 he became Shanghai Party deputy secretary and mayor.
During his Shanghai years, he rose as a key figure following Deng Xiaoping's reform and opening line. He led Shanghai's growth by spearheading infrastructure construction in the Pudong area, economic and financial reforms, and opening to the outside world. Inside and outside China, the prevailing assessment is that Deng Xiaoping selected the former premier around this time as a next-generation leader.
The former premier strongly supported Deng Xiaoping even when conservatives in China attacked the reform and opening line as the socialist bloc in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe collapsed one after another. After Deng Xiaoping's southern tour in 1992 reinvigorated the reform and opening line, the former premier's standing became even more solid.
During a factory visit in 1992, Deng Xiaoping publicly expressed confidence, saying, "When we select cadres, we must choose people who understand the economy. Zhu Rongji is exactly someone who understands the economy." In October of the same year, though only an alternate member of the Party Central Committee, the former premier leaped several ranks to enter the top leadership as a member of the Politburo Standing Committee (No. 5 in rank).
He then took on the role of chief architect of China's economic reforms, serving as vice premier (1991–1998), governor of the People's Bank of China (1993–1995), and premier (1998–2003). Because he drove reforms in virtually every corner, to the point where it was hard to find an area he did not touch, he earned the overseas nickname "economic czar."
A representative achievement was reform of state-owned enterprises. At the time, Chinese state-owned enterprises suffered chronic deficits due to overstaffing, low productivity, resource waste, and accumulated liability. Under the principle of "grasp the big and let go of the small" (抓大放小), the former premier reorganized industry around key large state-owned enterprises. Small and medium-sized state-owned enterprises with weak competitiveness were merged or sold, and companies with no ability to survive were declared bankrupt and exited.
Bold reforms came with considerable social expense. In the restructuring process, tens of millions of state-owned enterprise workers lost their so-called "iron rice bowl" jobs. Because social security and reemployment support systems were not sufficiently in place at the time, he was also criticized for pushing large numbers of workers out of society. The tax-sharing system introduced in 1994 likewise shows the light and dark of the former premier's reforms. By concentrating finances in the central government, it secured momentum to push reforms, but it also is assessed to have exacerbated chronic fiscal woes of local governments, increased burdens on farmers, and fueled a real estate bubble.
By contrast, the swift response during the 1997 Asian financial crisis and China's 2001 WTO entry are regarded as his signature achievements. In particular, WTO accession fully integrated China into the global trading system and became a springboard for its rise to the center of the world economy. Central government organizational reform and anti-corruption policies are also cited as major accomplishments.
In a roughly 2,700-character official obituary released the same day, the Chinese party and government detailed his achievements and said, "Comrade Zhu Rongji had deep affection for the masses," adding, "Government workers (civil servants) must keep in mind that they are the public's servants, dare to tell the truth, not fear being disliked, and must not become special (privileged)."