By The Straits Times | Created at 2026-08-17 03:47:26 | Updated at 2026-08-17 06:04:42
2 hours ago
BEIJING – Chinese President Xi Jinping upheld former leader Jiang Zemin’s legacy of combining economic development with firm Communist Party rule, using the centenary of his predecessor’s birth to reinforce the political foundations of his own agenda.
Xi praised Jiang for keeping economic growth at the centre of government policy while defending China’s independence, security and stability during political turmoil at home and abroad.
“When we’re developing the economy, we have to make sure that we adhere to the party’s leadership,” Xi said at a televised gathering at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Aug 17, recounting Jiang’s political thinking.
The speech marked Xi’s first public appearance in at least two weeks, following the annual summer break during which senior Chinese leaders are believed to gather at the seaside resort of Beidaihe.
The event came days after the death of former Premier Zhu Rongji, who worked alongside Jiang to advance sweeping economic changes and China’s entry into the World Trade Organisation.
Current and retired senior officials attended the ceremony, including Premier Li Qiang and Politburo Standing Committee members Wang Huning and Cai Qi.
Former premier Wen Jiabao and former vice-president Wang Qishan were also in attendance.
Xi credited Jiang, who took power shortly after Chinese troops crushed pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square in 1989, with implementing the party leadership’s “correct decision” and maintaining stability during what he called a “severe political disturbance.”
The remarks echoed Xi’s eulogy for Jiang in 2022, when he portrayed the former leader as having protected the party and sustained China’s development despite Western pressure and political upheaval.
Xi’s speech on Aug 17 again presented Jiang’s record of reform and opening as inseparable from Communist Party control.
Xi said Jiang had remained committed to economic development during upheaval in China and overseas from the late 1980s into the early 1990s.
He described Jiang as an “outstanding leader” and the principal founder of the Theory of Three Represents, which allowed private entrepreneurs to join the Communist Party as China’s market economy expanded. BLOOMBERG
