Former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji, whose market reforms helped drive the country’s extraordinary economic rise, died on Wednesday at the age of 97.

Zhu became premier in 1998 and swiftly lived up to his reputation as a hard-hitting free marketeer. Among his best-known reforms were a broad programme to privatise unprofitable state-owned enterprises, the privatisation of urban housing and the promotion of home ownership.

He passed away from illness in Beijing late Wednesday morning “after medical treatment failed to save him”, state news agency Xinhua reported.

“The life of comrade Zhu Rongji was a life of revolution, a life of struggle, a life of glory,” an obituary jointly issued by China’s top political bodies said, according to Xinhua.

“It was a life dedicated wholeheartedly to serving the people, one given to the communist cause. His passing is a major loss for the Party and the country.”

Reforms under Zhu sparked a boom in real estate and construction, which would soar to become a quarter of China’s economy before a crippling debt crisis struck in 2020.

His leadership was credited with helping China avoid the worst of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, bucking a global trend.

He also led negotiations for China’s accession to the World Trade Organisation in 2001 — a move seen as consolidating the country’s transformation from an isolated economy under Mao Zedong to the marketplace of the world.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took to X to express his condolences to Xi, sitting Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Zhu’s family and the Chinese public.

“Deeply saddened by the passing of former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji, a great leader and a good friend of Pakistan,” he wrote. “Pakistan shares the grief of our iron brother China at this sad hour.”

‘Outstanding leader’

Zhu was “an outstanding member of the Communist Party of China, a long-tested and loyal communist fighter … [and] an outstanding leader of the Party and the state”, his obituary said.

But Zhu’s brand of market reformism, which lifted millions out of poverty but unleashed inequality, fell out of vogue with the ascent of Xi Jinping in 2012.

Xi has condemned runaway capitalism and sought to move China onto a more balanced development path, as well as cracking down on excessive displays of wealth and private firms seen as monopolistic.

“We must turn our grief into strength, learn from [Zhu’s] revolutionary spirit, noble character and fine conduct, and rally even more closely around the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core,” the obituary read.

News of his death quickly shot to the top trending on social media platform Weibo, with the topic gaining more than 190 million views just hours after it was announced.

“The people’s good premier, go in peace,” read one comment under the news on Weibo with more than 17,000 likes.

Others left candle emojis in remembrance.