Remains of ex-premier Li Peng cremated

The cremation of former premier Li Peng took place on Monday in Beijing.

At the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery, President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and other members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee — Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji and Han Zheng — as well as Vice-President Wang Qishan and former president Jiang Zemin, stood in silent tribute and bowed three times in front of the former premier’s body on Monday morning. They also extended their condolences to Li’s family.

Former president Hu Jintao, who was not in Beijing at the time, sent a wreath and his condolences.

Li, aged 91, passed away due to illness in Beijing on July 22.

In addition to being premier and chairman of the ninth National People’s Congress Standing Committee, Li was also a member of the Political Bureau, the Secretariat of the 12th CPC Central Committee and the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 13th, 14th and 15th central committees of the CPC.

To mourn his death, the national flag at Tian’anmen Square was flown at half-staff at 5:10 am on Monday as the national anthem, March of the Volunteers, was played. National flags at Xinhuamen, the Great Hall of the People, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, seats of provincial-level committees of the CPC and provincial-level governments, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Macao Special Administrative Region, seaports, airports and Chinese embassies and consulates were also flown at half-staff.

Li was extolled in an obituary issued by the central authorities as “an excellent Party member, a timetested and loyal Communist soldier, and an outstanding proletarian revolutionary, statesman and leader of the Party and the State”.