(Deutsche Welle Chinese website) Germany's Der Spiegel wrote that Zhu Rongji reformed state-owned enterprises, and as prime minister, he led China to join the WTO - and spoke with a frankness that would be unthinkable under Xi Jinping.
The obituary read: "Zhu Rongji passed away. He was China's prime minister from 1998 to 2003. He was a legendary reformer who helped open up the Chinese economy and led China to join the WTO."
"Jörg Wuttke, chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce in Beijing for many years, has known Zhu Rongji personally. Wuttke recalled: 'Zhu Rongji is the most impressive Chinese person I have ever met.' 'He is unusual. He speaks very directly and freely at press conferences. He is also very humorous.' Wuttke said that Zhu Rongji has always been 'extremely demanding' of everyone, and 'you must understand the local situation wherever you go.'"
The article reads: "Woodtaker said that Zhu Rongji had to make many difficult decisions during his tenure: He led China through the Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998. He disbanded some ministries and privatized state-owned enterprises."
"Once he said: 'If this government is all good gentlemen, we will be sorry to the people.' Such words are unimaginable today."
Difficult Reforms and the “World Factory”
The Guardian wrote: "Zhu Rongji implemented controversial and hard-line reforms to address the huge inefficiencies of state-owned enterprises and modernize China's infrastructure. Ten years later, Zhu Rongji can declare that the country has become the 'world's factory', a status that it still retains in many ways today."
"He is a straight-talking, powerful figure. He is notoriously tough on corruption. ... This has laid the foundation for his overall popularity in China, and he is also highly regarded abroad. He seems to be close to the ideal image of an ethical Chinese official."
“The paradox: never doubted the need for party control”
The Wall Street Journal of the United States wrote that Zhu Rongji is trying to keep China on the path of market reform.
"It's easy to forget that China's current economic woes and diplomatic and strategic antagonisms were not inevitable," the obituary read. "For a time in the 1990s and 2000s, the country looked like it might be headed for lasting reform and greater openness to the world. That was Zhu Rongji's project."
The article mentions Zhu Rongji's achievements, but also points out: "Some of Zhu Rongji's efforts also inadvertently set the stage for the country's current problems. What is particularly damaging is the combination of the two: the private real estate market, and the fiscal policy of local governments borrowing heavily in the hope of future land revenue. But if Beijing had implemented the vision of financial liberalization in the WTO agreement, the real estate market might not be so inflated, and local government finances might not be so critical."
"Leaders after Zhu Rongji, such as President Hu Jintao, rolled back some of Zhu's reforms, especially those of state-owned enterprises, ending free-market dynamics. One of the great contradictions of Zhu's career is that he never seemed to doubt the need for Communist Party control. Despite his own series of purges during the Maoist era and first-hand experience of the destructive authoritarianism of one-party rule, he maintained his faith."
"He often denounced corruption and took action against it, but never acknowledged (or recognized) the inevitability of a political system like China's, which ultimately relies on consensus achieved under political coercion. During his time in office, the CCP continued to deny the critical link between political freedom and prosperity; the cruelty of policies such as the one-child policy continued."
The obituary concluded: "It is difficult to know how China might have changed if Zhu Rongji's generation of reformers had remained in power. However, Zhu Rongji's successors have regained the party's control over the commanding heights of the economy. This is a tragedy for China, and for the world."
