Eva Deschamps / December 1, 2022
Former Chinese President Jiang Zemin, who led his country through an era of profound upheaval from 1989 until the early 2000s, died Wednesday at the age of 96, the state-run China News Agency announced.
He had come to power in the aftermath of the crackdown on the Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing and had accompanied the transformation of the world's most populous nation into a global power.
"Jiang Zemin died of leukemia and multiple organ failure in Shanghai at 12:13 p.m.(Wednesday), Nov. 30, 2022, at the age of 96," announced New China.
Flags will be flown at half-mast on the main buildings of the Chinese Communist Party and government after the death of former president Jiang Zemin on Wednesday, state media reported.
The order, which comes from the committee organizing the funeral of the former leader, applies from Wednesdayuntil the end of his funeral, whose schedule has not yet been announced, according to the state broadcaster CCTV.
When Jiang Zemin was officially appointed in 1989 by former leader Deng Xiaoping as his successor, China was in the early stages of economic modernization.
By the time Jiang stepped down as president in 2003, China had become a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), had won the 2008 BeijingOlympics and was on its way to becoming a superpower.
Jiang Zemin, a former mayor and Communist Party chief in Shanghai, continued to exert influence on Chinese politics with a close circle of leaders even after his official retirement, analysts say.
He leaves behind his wife Wang Yeping and two sons.