Market Revolutionary, Career Capitalist, The Business Wooer; China's Former President Jiang Zemin Dies at 96 | In GFX

Former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin died Wednesday at the age of 96, hailing him as a great communist revolutionary who helped quell the 1989 pro-democracy protests. (Credits: News18 graphics)

Jiang took power in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, in which the military used deadly force to end peaceful demonstrations, and led China towards its emergence as a global economic powerhouse. (Credits: News18 graphics)

The major bodies of China's ruling Communist Party announced his death through a letter that expressed profound grief. (Credits: News18 graphics)

Jiang Zemin passed away due to leukemia and multiple organ failure in Shanghai at 12:13 pm on Nov. 30, 2022, at the age of 96, news agency Xinhua said. (Credits: News18 graphics)

Jiang's death comes as China sees a flare-up of anti-Covid lockdown protests that have morphed into calls for more political freedoms -- the most widespread since the 1989 pro-democracy rallies. (Credits: News18 graphics)

When Jiang replaced Deng Xiaoping as leader in 1989, China was still in the early stages of economic modernisation. (Credits: News18 graphics)

By the time he retired as president in 2003, China was a member of the Trade Organization, Beijing had secured the 2008 Olympics, and the country was well on its way to superpower status. (Credits: News18 graphics)

Analysts say Jiang and his Shanghai Gang faction continued to exert influence over communist politics long after he left the top job, including in the selection of Xi Jinping as leader in 2012. (Credits: News18 graphics)

While Jiang could have a fierce temper, his jocular side where he would sometimes sing for foreign dignitaries and joke around with them stand in marked contrast to his stiffer successor Hu Jintao and current President Xi Jinping. (Credits: News18 graphics)

Some Chinese social media users have posted pictures and videos of Jiang speaking or laughing and articles about his 1997 speech at Harvard University in English, reminiscing about an era when China and the West were on better terms. (Credits: News18 graphics)

U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said that during his two visits to the United States as president as well as multiple other meetings with U.S. officials, Jiang worked to advance ties while managing our differences – an imperative that continues today. (Credits: News18 graphics)

The front page of the ruling Communist Party's official People's Daily devoted its whole front page to Jiang, and carried a large picture of him wearing his trademark toad glasses. (Credits: News18 graphics)

Flags flew at half mast on key government buildings and Chinese embassies abroad, while the home pages of e-commerce platforms Taobao and JD.com also turned black and white. (Credits: News18 graphics)

Mourners laid piles of bouquets of white chrysanthemums, a traditional Chinese symbol for mourning, outside Jiang's childhood home in the eastern city of Yangzhou, a witness told Reuters, declining to be identified given sensitivities about discussing anything political in China. (Credits: News18 graphics)

In Shanghai, where Jiang died, police closed off streets but hundreds of people still tried to catch a glimpse of a vehicle thought to be carrying his body, according to images that were shared on Chinese social media. (Credits: News18 graphics)

But foreign governments, political parties and friendly personages will not be invited to send delegations or representatives to China to attend the mourning activities, the official Xinhua news agency said. (Credits: News18 graphics)

Jiang's death comes at a tumultuous time in China, where authorities are grappling with rare widespread street protests among residents fed up with heavy-handed COVID-19 curbs nearly three years into the pandemic. (Credits: News18 graphics)