Chinese President Xi Jinping leads party elite in final farewell for ex-premier Zhu Rongji

Chinese President Xi Jinping presided over the final farewell ceremony for former Prime Minister Zhu Rongji who passed away last Wednesday at the age of 97. Zhu's body was cremated on Tuesday and laid to rest at Beijing's Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery. National flags were lowered to half-mast in his honor, marking a somber occasion observed across key government sites in Beijing, including Tiananmen Square and the Great Hall of the People.

Xi Jinping, along with Premier Li Qiang and five other members of the Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee, paid their final respects to Zhu. The ceremony mirrored those held for former Premier Li Keqiang, who was also cremated at Babaoshan in November 2023. Flags flew at half-mast in several locations, including Hong Kong and Macau, reflecting the nation's deep respect for the late premier, who is considered a key architect of China's economic transformation and played a pivotal role in guiding the country into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001.