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China mourns late ex-Premier Li Keqiang

November 2, 2023

Former Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang passed away less than a year after stepping down from office. Hoards of people have gathered near the state funeral home in Beijing.

https://p.dw.com/p/4YIkK
A Chinese national flag flies at half-mast to mourn the death of Comrade Li Keqiang at Tiananmen Square in Beijing
Flags in Beijing's Tiananmen Square were at half-mast ahead of Li Keqiang's funeral ceremonyImage: Ju Huanzong/Xinhua/picture alliance

National flags in Beijing and other cities across China flew at half-mast on Thursday as the country prepared to put former Premier Li Keqiang to rest.

Thousands of people gathered near the state funeral home in the capital ahead of the funeral to pay their respects.

Li, a reform-oriented politician who served as China's prime minister for a decade, passed away last week from a heart attack in Shanghai. He was 68 years old.

Li died less than a year after stepping down as premier.

He is to be cremated later Thursday at a ceremony likely to be attended by the country's top leadership.

Li Keqiang: 'China and Germany bear a responsibility for the entire world'

Flags were seen flying at half-mast in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. China's state news agency Xinhua reported that flags would be lowered at government buildings across mainland China, semi-autonomous regions of Hong Kong and Macau, and in consulates abroad. 

Li's political career

Li, a career bureaucrat, was a strong voice for liberalization and economic reform in China who helped guide its economy for a decade.

Once poised to be the country's future leader, he was eclipsed by current President Xi Jinping. His policies were geared towards opening China up to the world, often in contrast to Xi's centralizing and domineering approach.

Late former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at a press conference
Li Keqiang died of a heart attack at the age of 68Image: Liu Weibing/Xinhua/picture alliance

Users on Chinese social media platforms posted a quote of his from late 2022 — "The Yellow River and Yangtze River will not change course."

China's ruling Communist Party, in an official obituary, described Xi's one-time political rival as a "time-tested and loyal communist soldier."

Li was dropped from the Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee in October 2022. He left office in March 2023, despite being two years below the informal retirement age of 70.

Li was replaced in office by Xi ally Li Qiang, the party secretary for Shanghai. 

Why was Li Qiang chosen as China's premier?

mk/nm (AFP, Reuters, AP)