Mourners to gather to remember former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji

NPR | By Jennifer Pak,

Sacha Pfeiffer

Published August 18, 2026 at 4:39 AM EDT

China bids farewell to former Premier Zhu Rongji, the pragmatic economic reformer who steered the nation into the WTO and transformed its state-dominated economy.

Jennifer Pak

Jennifer Pak is NPR’s China correspondent. She has been covering China and the region for the past two decades.

Sacha Pfeiffer

Correspondent, Investigations

See stories by Sacha Pfeiffer

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