Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, key architect of economic reforms, dies at 98

Zhu Rongji, the ex-premier who drove China’s rapid economic expansion, died of illness in Beijing at 98, one outlet announced. Rising from a deputy mayor of Shanghai to the top economic post in 1998, he forced state-owned companies to become profit-oriented, triggering massive layoffs but boosting productivity. Zhu’s tenure saw China join the World Trade Organization in 2001, anchoring the nation’s role as the world’s leading exporter and sustaining growth above 8% for a decade.

He was famed for his outspoken criticism of bureaucratic waste and for taking public responsibility for policy failures. Though never a champion of full privatization, his reforms laid the groundwork for the modern, market-driven Chinese economy.