China's "economic czar" has died

 

TT

 

Published 16.14

  

Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, center, listens to a speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping during a party congress in 2017. Photo: Mark Schiefelbein/AP/TT

Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, whose market reforms made the country a global superpower, has died at the age of 97.

Zhu oversaw China's economic policy for more than a decade from the early 1990s, first as vice premier and later as premier, CNN reports.

He implemented a series of sweeping changes to liberalize the economy, including the privatization of unprofitable state-owned companies.

Internationally, he is best known for leading China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, paving the way for double-digit growth that transformed China into a global superpower.

China's ruling Communist Party, in an official obituary, praises Zhu's role during a "crucial stage" when the country "transitioned from a planned economy to a socialist market economy."