{
  "id": 833011,
  "title": "Unbalanced Zhu Rongji reforms continue to haunt China",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/14/las-reformas-desequilibradas-de-zhu-rongji-siguen-persiguiendo-a-china",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-08-14T03:40:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "El Pais Economia",
    "slug": "el-pais-economia",
    "url": "https://cincodias.elpais.com/opinion/2026-08-14/las-reformas-desequilibradas-de-zhu-rongji-siguen-persiguiendo-a-china.html"
  },
  "original_language": "es",
  "account": "China will remember Zhu Rongji, who died last Wednesday, as the most influential economic leader at a decisive moment in its rise. Zhu strengthened Beijing's tax collection and later achieved entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), two milestones that fueled decades of growth, but created a model overly dependent on land sales and exports. Correcting these systemic shortcomings in an economy worth €17.2 trillion requires no less boldness.",
  "summary": "Zhu Rongji, a former Chinese Premier, has died at the age of 97. He was a key figure in China's economic rise, introducing several reforms that transformed the country's economy. According to El Pais Economia, Zhu strengthened Beijing's tax collection and successfully led China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTC), two significant milestones that fueled decades of growth.\n\nSemafor reports that Zhu's reforms included overhauling the tax system, commercializing state banks, and privatizing state enterprises, which resulted in up to 30 million workers losing their jobs. However, this also led to the creation of an urban middle class as Zhu privatized the housing stock.\n\nZhu's policies have had a lasting impact on China's economy, which is now dominated by large state enterprises. The Semafor report notes that prospects for foreign investors are narrowing, suggesting that Zhu's reforms may not have led to the promised Chinese economic opening.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}