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Zhu Rongji

Retirement remains a complex issue in mainland China, given its population, fast-changing demographics and urban-rural development gap. Photo: AP

Editorial | Raising the retirement age inevitable amid China’s demographic changes

It is never a good time to tell people they have to work longer but if China’s public pension system is to be saved, there really is no alternative.

It is never a good time to tell people they have to work longer but if China’s public pension system is to be saved, there really is no alternative

18 Sep 2024 - 11:52PM

Editorial | Fiscal shake-up must be a success for sake of the China economy

25 Jul 2024 - 12:17AM

Opinion | Why I miss the Chinese premier’s annual press conference after the ‘two sessions’

12 Mar 2024 - 8:55AMvideocam

Opinion | ‘Capital’ is still a dirty word in China – it shouldn’t be

Despite its role in supporting China’s economic boom, private capital still carries a whiff of notoriety in the country.

22 Aug 2023 - 7:00AM

A night market in southwest China’s Chongqing. Photo: Xinhua

Mao’s former barefoot doctor recalls sole foreign takeover of Chinese bank

Shan Weijian was the co-managing partner of San Francisco-based private-equity firm Newbridge Capital when it took over a controlling stake in Shenzhen Development Bank in 2005.

2 Feb 2023 - 5:19PMvideocam

China’s economic rise under Jiang Zemin offered lessons that resonate today

When China was at a critical crossroads in 1989, Jiang helped lay the groundwork for an economic transformation, and it largely hinged on improving relations with Western countries.

6 Dec 2022 - 10:08AMvideocam

Editorial | Hong Kong handover just one milestone for man who led China out of crisis and into world

With the country at the crossroads, Jiang Zemin kept opening up and reform on track, put paid to international isolation and ensured the city’s governing principle of ‘one country, two systems’ was adhered to.

2 Dec 2022 - 3:02AMvideocam

Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Queen Elizabeth II pose for a photograph in the Music Room prior to a state banquet at Buckingham Palace in London in October 1999. Photo: Pool via AP

Explainer | 5 defining moments for the Chinese economy over the past 25 years

As debate swirls in Beijing about how the government should respond to current economic challenges, we take a look back in recent history to see how China has weathered previous periods of economic uncertainty.

20 Apr 2022 - 9:03AMvideocam

Xi tries to build symbolic bridge between Communist Party’s past and future

The party chief urged young Chinese to follow the party, while paying tribute to past leaders such as Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping.

1 Dec 2022 - 12:44AMvideocam

Communist Party sticks to the script on a day for young and old

Audience of more than 70,000 fills Tiananmen Square for carefully choreographed celebration and while Xi Jinping gets much of the attention, younger faces also take centre stage.

2 Jul 2021 - 12:04AMvideocam

Choir members wave during the centenary celebration in Tiananmen Square on Thursday. Photo: Xinhua

Opinion | Xi Jinping’s next priority? Revitalising China’s rural regions

For President Xi Jinping, a yawning urban-rural divide is not helping the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation, nor the nation’s newly adopted strategy of dual circulation.

4 Jan 2021 - 10:24PMvideocam

A Tibetan woman harvests vegetables in the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province. Photo: Simon Song

No clear end to China-Canada relations slide which began with Huawei arrest

Economists and global affairs experts find no way forward as 50 years of friendship continues to sour on many fronts.

25 Dec 2021 - 5:53AMvideocam

‘Don’t waste crisis’: EU business group presses China to open markets

European chamber’s annual survey finds companies grappling with a more politicised, state-dominated environment.

10 Jun 2020 - 9:46AMvideocam

Son of ex-China premier Zhu Rongji urges reforms, not easing, for growth

Zhu Yunlai, the former president of China’s first investment bank, says it is ‘impossible’ to rescue any economy by continuously printing money.

17 Nov 2019 - 5:02PM

Former premier Zhu Rongji is viewed as one of China’s great reformers. Photo: AFP

What will the demise of protest-ravaged Hong Kong mean for China?

Hong Kong’s protests, driven by a false sense of superiority to the mainland, are unlikely to provoke an overreaction from Chinese leaders. Beijing has no reason to fear them spreading, as its people have confidence in the government and optimism in the future.

2 Oct 2019 - 6:00AM

A construction worker builds a wall outside a compound in Beijing in August 2017. Photo: AFP

The View | China can reboot SOE reform by taking a lesson from the Czechs

China, which is paying a heavy economic price for its failed reform of state-owned enterprises, can explore the successful Czech experience of tapping the expertise of private fund managers.

1 Aug 2019 - 4:10AM

Economic reforms are ‘the only way out’ of US trade war for China

Li Jiange, who was secretary to former Premier Zhu Rongji, questioned Beijing’s approach to dealing with the trade war with the United States.

18 Jun 2019 - 9:42AM

China ‘puts economy at risk’ by spurning own market reforms

The private sector has been sidelined despite Beijing’s 2013 decision to allow market forces to play a decisive role in the economy, US economist Nicholas Lardy says.

13 Feb 2019 - 10:41PM

Opinion | Could Wang Qishan be the new face of Chinese pragmatism?

China’s vice-president made it a point in his Davos speech to stress Beijing’s commitment to taking a pragmatic approach in problem-solving – welcome words that should help ease tense US-China relations.

29 Jan 2019 - 1:52AM

Levin Zhu, son of former premier Zhu Rongji, quits investment bank CICC

Levin Zhu, the son of former Premier Zhu Rongji, has resigned as chief executive of the first Sino-foreign joint venture investment bank in a surprise move likely to slow down the company's IPO process.

15 Jun 2018 - 12:32PM

Former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji breaks long silence with letter to university

Former premier Zhu Rongji has made a rare public gesture, writing a letter for the 30th anniversary of his alma mater, becoming the latest ex-party leader to step briefly out of low-key retirement.

29 Apr 2014 - 3:42AM

Former premier Zhu Rongji (inset) was a former dean of the management school at Tsinghua University. Photos: AFP, SCMP

Zhu Rongji makes rare public appearance to hawk his new book

Zhu delivered the brief speech at a ceremony launching the English edition of Zhu Rongji on the Record: The Road to Reform 1991-1997, which is to go on sale in the US this month.

10 Sep 2013 - 4:33AMvideocam

Former premier speaks in a video to promote the new compilation of his speeches. Photo: SCMP

Zhu Rongji speech, newly revealed, likely aimed at leadership summit

The People's Publishing House will on Monday release a collection of speeches Zhu gave as mayor of Shanghai between 1987 and 1991. The People's Daily website yesterday ran excerpts, which were picked up by major mainland portals.

10 Aug 2013 - 4:00AM

Hong Kong's graft laws apply to Zhu Rongji's son and other members of new body

19 Jan 2013 - 7:40AM

Retired life comes easy for China's former leaders

"Every man should confine himself to his own duties", the Chinese saying goes, and when state leaders retire they often vow to refrain from interfering in the nation's politics and seek more time to pursue personal interests. Some travel around the country to relax, write books and learn the arts, but others want to show they are still political heavyweights.

11 Nov 2012 - 3:28PM

Retired leader Li Peng seeks to show influence ahead of congress

31 Oct 2012 - 7:21AM

Premier Wen's rule overshadowed by predecessor Zhu's bold reforms

1 Oct 2012 - 1:53PM

Wang Qishan: the mainland's economic reformer in waiting

Symbolism can matter a great deal in politics, and Vice-Premier Wang Qishan's similarities to his political mentor, Zhu Rongji, have helped boost his popularity among party officials and ordinary citizens.

30 May 2016 - 5:00PM

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Zhu Rongji

Born on October 1, 1928 in Changsha, Hunan, Zhu Rongji mayor and party chief in Shanghai between 1987 and 1991, before becoming vice premier and then the fifth premier of the People's Republic of China. He held that position between March 1998 and March 2003. He is known for taking a tough stance against corruption in the government and pushing difficult reforms of the state sector.

last updated:

29 July, 2024