Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, architect of China’s economic rise dies at 97

Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji has died after battling a long illness at the age of 97. The official Xinhua agency reported that Zhu died in Beijing at around 11 a.m. on Wednesday.

According to state media, he had played a crucial role in igniting China’s explosive economic boom by compelling a radical overhaul of state industry in the 1990s and leading the country into the World Trade Organization.

Zhu exposes corruption and misconduct publicly and accepts blame when the government fell short. His demanding style earned him the nicknames Boss and Zhu Fengzi and Madman Zhu. Zhu said in 1998: “ I have prepared 100 coffins here, 99 for corrupt officials and one for myself.”

He made his name as a deputy premier in the 1990s; however, implementing strict economic policies to reduce budget deficits.

Zhu was credited with supplying the resourcefulness and courage to drive through the history-making changes such as China’s WTO membership which helped to transform China into the world’s biggest exporter.