Now Reading: China’s ex-premier Zhu Rongji, who pushed economic reforms, dies at 97
-
01
China’s ex-premier Zhu Rongji, who pushed economic reforms, dies at 97
China’s ex-premier Zhu Rongji, who pushed economic reforms, dies at 97
Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, the driving force behind China's entry into the World Trade Organization and its economic boom, died in Beijing on Wednesday at age 97, state media reported. Xinhua…
The Story in Brief
Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, the driving force behind China's entry into the World Trade Organization and its economic boom, died in Beijing on Wednesday at age 97, state media reported. Xinhua news agency said Zhu died at around 11 a.m. of illness.
Zhu served as premier from 1998 to 2003, forcing state-owned companies to become efficient and profitable. His reforms cost millions of layoffs but helped China overtake Japan as the world's second-largest economy in 2010. Known for his sharp tongue and anti-corruption stance, Zhu once said he had 'prepared 100 coffins, 99 for corrupt officials and one for myself.' He was labelled a 'rightist' in 1957 for praising reforms in other communist countries and exiled to the countryside to do manual labour during the Cultural Revolution.
The Indian Opinion
Western obituaries paint Zhu as a free-market hero, but that is too simple. He shunned privatisation and kept government control over banks, airlines and oil companies. Indian readers should judge Zhu by results, not labels. The test: did his model lift hundreds of millions out of poverty? It did, but at a brutal human cost that is often glossed over. The real question is whether India can achieve similar growth without sacrificing workers or democratic norms.
Sources (2): timesofindia.indiatimes.com, ndtv.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
