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Zhu Rongji, who drove China's 1990s economic reforms, has died at 97

Then-Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji arrives at Hong Kong's international airport on Nov. 18, 2002, for the opening of the World Congress of Accountants. Cheng/South China Morning Post via Getty Images hide caption Then-Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji arrives at Hong Kong's international airport on Nov. Zhu Rongji, former premier of China, has died at age 97. The cause of death was given as illness, according to state media.

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Scoop News DeskChina · Published Wednesday, August 12, 2026 at 12:36 PM UTCUpdated Thursday, August 13, 2026 at 11:32 AM UTC

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Zhu was rehabilitated after Mao died in 1976 and Deng Xiaoping came to power as China's leader. Zhu, an acerbic technocrat and a trained engineer, was renowned for far-reaching economic reforms throughout the 1990s that sought to transition China from the chaos of its post-Maoist years to a more global market-oriented financial system, without completely ceding the Communist Party's control over the economy.

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