The former Chinese president Jiang Zemin has died aged 96, state media has said.
Mr Jiang, who was president from 1989 to 2003, died from leukaemia and multiple organ failure on Wednesday afternoon in Shanghai.
He came to power after the bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Mr Jiang stepped down as party chief in 2002, but remained head of the military for another year.
His death comes as China faces widespread anti-lockdown protests across the country on a level of dissent likened to the pro-democracy movement centred on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.
Under Mr Jiang, China saw economic reform which led to a decade of explosive growth.
The country weathered the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, joined the World Trade Organisation in 2001 and won the bid to host the 2008 Summer Olympics in the country’s capital.
A letter to the Chinese people by the ruling Communist Party and government officials announcing Mr Jiang’s death, described it as an “incalculable loss”.
It read: “Comrade Jiang Zemin’s death is an incalculable loss to our Party and our military and our people of all ethnic groups”.
It called him a “beloved comrade”, an outstanding leader of high prestige and a great Marxist.
Mr Jiang also saw the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997 following the British handover after more than 150 years of British rule.
The former president was last seen in public in October 2019 among other former leaders watching a military parade at Tiananmen Square.
Following his rule, he handed power to Hu Jintao who was seen being unexpectedly escorted out of a closing ceremony of the ruling Communist Party last month.
