Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji dies at 97 after shaping market reforms
Why it matters: Zhu drove China into the WTO and pushed tax, housing and state-firm changes that remade its economy.
Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, one of the central architects of China’s market-era economic overhaul, has died at 97. Zhu served as premier from 1998 to 2003 and helped secure China’s entry into the World Trade Organization, a step that opened its factories more deeply to global markets and foreign investment. He also shifted tax authority toward the central government, shut down or privatized struggling state companies and promoted home ownership. Supporters saw him as a blunt, pragmatic reformer who stabilized the economy and confronted corruption. His tenure also brought heavy costs, including about 30 million layoffs over five years and widening inequality as China’s growth accelerated.