Flags lowered nationwide for funeral of China’s ex-premier Zhu Rongji

Former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji was honored on Tuesday with lowered flags and digital tributes, preceding his funeral for the visionary reformer who passed away at the age of 97. A Chinese national flag was flown at half-mast in Beijing on August 18, 2026, to commemorate the demise of Zhu Rongji, as captured in a photograph by Adek Berry/AFP.

Renowned for his transformative economic restructuring during his five-year tenure as premier from 1998, Zhu was lauded posthumously by state news agency Xinhua as "an outstanding proletarian revolutionist and statesman". Flags were lowered at various government buildings in Beijing, according to AFP correspondents, as well as at Tiananmen Square, the massive and heavily guarded landmark in the heart of the nation's capital.

The Tiananmen tribute dominated the trending topics on Chinese microblogging platform Weibo, with one user expressing gratitude for Zhu's contributions to the country. Flags were at half-mast in Hong Kong on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, in honor of the former premier Zhu Rongji. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Zhu's ashes will be cremated in Beijing on Tuesday, with a farewell ceremony expected to feature senior officials from China's ruling Communist Party, per customary procedure.

Born in 1928 in central China and subsequently climbing the party ranks following the 1949 revolution spearheaded by Mao Zedong, Zhu held key positions such as mayor of Shanghai and national vice premier before assuming the office of premier. His tenure as premier overlapped with that of Jiang Zemin, the affable, spectacled economic reformer who died in 2022.

Zhu was particularly recognized for his relentless anti-corruption campaign, controversial dismantling of unproductive state-owned enterprises, and integration of China into the global economy. When once asked by a reporter how he wished to be remembered, Zhu remarked: "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."