Chinese President Xi Jinping pays tribute to late former premier Zhu Rongji

National flags flew at half mast across China as President Xi Jinping and senior leaders of the ruling Communist Party paid their final respects to former premier Zhu Rongji on Tuesday ahead of his cremation. Zhu died in Beijing last Wednesday aged 97 following an illness. Widely recognised as the principal architect of China’s economic modernisation, Zhu held the premiership from 1998 to 2003, driving key market reforms and guiding the nation’s accession to the World Trade Organization.