Grand tribute, sombre farewell: How China remembered Jiang Zemin and Zhu Rongji over two days

China marked late President Jiang Zemin’s birth centenary on Monday (Aug 17) and bid farewell the next day to former Premier Zhu Rongji in two major ceremonies held just 24 hours apart.

The president used the centenary of the former Chinese Communist Party leader's birth to praise his firmness following the crackdown on the student movement of June 1989 and to recall the golden age of China's economy.

The president used the centenary of the former Chinese Communist Party leader's birth to praise his firmness following the crackdown on the student movement of June 1989 and to recall the golden age of China's economy.

PoliticsXi attends funeral for late premier a day after speaking at former president's centenaryChina's then-President Jiang Zemin, right, and then-Premier Zhu Rongji vote to endorse Jiang's political theory at the close of the Communist Party's Congress in November 2002. © ReutersKENJI KAWASEAugust 18, 2026 17:48 JSTT

Temperatures have dropped in Hong Kong after a streak of nine very hot days, with the city’s weather forecaster issuing an amber rainstorm warning on Friday morning. The Observatory recorded temperatures between 23 and 29 degrees Celsius (73 and 84 Fahrenheit) in various districts across the city as of 8.45am, signific