Jiang Zemin, a former Chinese president, passed away at the age of 96 on Wednesday in Shanghai, according to reports.
Just after noon local time, Jiang passed away from leukemia and multiple organ failure, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
After the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown on student protesters, Jiang was named head of the Communist Party. During his tenure, he worked to advance the nation’s economic development.
In August 1926, the late president was born in Jiangsu Province. He worked as an engineer at factories in the Soviet Union and Changchun, in northern China, after earning his degree in electrical engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
In 1985, he was elected mayor of Shanghai, and in 1987, he was named chairman of the top party committee in the city.
Jiang was given acclaim by the country’s then-leader Deng Xiaoping for his forceful response to the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations, which paved the path for his ascent to power after Zhao Ziyang was ousted as the party’s general secretary.
Jiang has received praise for his contributions to China’s military modernisation and economic development. In 1997, he also managed Hong Kong’s transfer to China as a former British colony.
He sought stable diplomatic ties with the United States and the rest of the world, but when he visited Japan in 1998, his relations with that country were hampered by old grudges.
When Hu Jintao became general secretary of the Chinese national party in 2002, Jiang saw his “Three Represents” idea adopted into the party’s tenets. His ideas placed a strong emphasis on political consensus, cultural advancement, and economic creation.
The most recent meeting of China’s top leadership, the twice-decade congress, was conducted last month without the aging Jiang.
Jiang remained a powerful figure even after leaving his position as general secretary. He served as leader of the Central Military Commission until 2004 while remaining president until March 2003. He was recognised as the second-ranking party leader after the president under his successor, Hu.
