A file photo of Jiang Zemin. Jiang Zemin passed away due to leukemia and multiple organ failure in Shanghai at 12:13 p.m. on Nov. 30, 2022, at the age of 96. (Xinhua)

Chinese former president Jiang Zemin passed away on Wednesday. The entire country expressed deep mourning toward the former leader, and many media outlets around the world also paid deep respects to and expressed compliments for Jiang's political career and outstanding contributions, not only to China but also to the international community. 

Jiang passed away due to leukemia and multiple organ failure in Shanghai at 12:13 pm on November 30, 2022, at the age of 96, it was announced on Wednesday.

The announcement was made by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the State Council of the PRC, the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and the Central Military Commissions (CMC) of the CPC and the PRC. It was announced in a letter addressing the whole Party, the entire military and the Chinese people of all ethnic groups.

The letter said they proclaim with profound grief to the whole Party, the entire military and the Chinese people of all ethnic groups that our beloved Comrade Jiang Zemin died of leukemia and multiple organ failure after all medical treatments had failed.

"We profoundly mourn Comrade Jiang and will turn grief into strength to work in a concerted effort to build a modern socialist country in all aspects and advance the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation in an all-round way in accordance with the plan of the 20th CPC National Congress," Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chinese president, told visiting Thongloun Sisoulith, general secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party Central Committee and Lao president, during a meeting on Wednesday.

The letter released by the Xinhua News Agency on Wednesday said that Comrade Jiang Zemin was an outstanding leader enjoying high prestige acknowledged by the whole Party, the entire military and the Chinese people of all ethnic groups, a great Marxist, a great proletarian revolutionary, statesman, military strategist and diplomat, a long-tested communist fighter, and an outstanding leader of the great cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics. He was the core of the CPC's third generation of central collective leadership and the principal founder of the Theory of Three Represents.  

The letter reviewed the achievements he made during his lifetime from his adolescent years when he became a diligent learner and seeker of truth enlightened by patriotism and the ideas of the democratic revolution, to the time when he became the core of the CPC's third generation of central collective leadership, to the period of his retirement from the leading posts during which Jiang firmly upheld the work of the CPC Central Committee. 

Under the Party's third generation of central collective leadership with Jiang at the core, we calmly dealt with a series of breaking international events that concerned China's sovereignty and security, overcame difficulties and risks cropping up in the political and economic spheres and those brought by natural disasters, and always kept China's reform, opening-up and socialist modernization drive in the right direction. The great achievements of our Party and country in the 13 years since the fourth plenary session of the 13th CPC Central Committee were inseparable from Jiang's great talent, key role, and exceptional art of political leadership as a Marxist statesman, the letter said. 

While serving as chairman of the CMC, Comrade Jiang Zemin, with a deep understanding of the major changes in the domestic and international situations and development trend of the world's new military transformation, put forward a series of new judgments and new measures in advancing the modernization of the national defense and the armed forces, enriched and developed Mao Zedong's military thinking and Deng Xiaoping's thinking on military work in the new historical period, created Jiang Zemin's thinking on strengthening the national defense and armed forces, and led the modernization of the national defense and the armed forces in scoring great achievements, the letter said.  

After he retired from his leading posts, Jiang firmly upheld the work of the CPC Central Committee, showed care for the great cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and resolutely supported the efforts to improve Party conduct and combat corruption, it said. 

The letter noted that Comrade Jiang Zemin was far-sighted, and could make correct assessments of different situations. He always observed and reflected on issues taking into consideration the general trends of China and the world, as well as the overall work of the Party and the state, continuously advancing theoretical innovation and innovation in other fields.

Jiang's death is an inestimable loss to our Party, our military and the Chinese people of all ethnic groups. The CPC Central Committee calls on the whole Party, the entire military and the people of all ethnic groups to turn grief into strength, carry forward Jiang's legacy and express our grief with concrete actions, the letter said. 

We must rally around the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core with greater resolve and purpose, and adhere to the Party's basic theory, basic line, and basic policy, the letter said.

We must develop a deep understanding of the decisive significance of establishing Comrade Xi Jinping's core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and establishing the guiding role of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.

We must strengthen the consciousness of the need to maintain political integrity, think in big-picture terms, follow the leadership core, and keep in alignment with the central Party leadership. We must stay confident in the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics. We must uphold Comrade Xi Jinping's core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and uphold the Central Committee's authority and its centralized, unified leadership.

We must persevere with full and rigorous self-governance, continue to advance the great new project of Party building in the new era, and use our own transformation to steer social transformation. This will enable our Party to stay true to its original aspiration and founding mission and remain the strong leadership core in the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

The cause of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is the crystallization of the painstaking efforts and endeavor of generations of communists including Comrade Jiang Zemin. On the journey ahead, the whole Party, the entire military, and the Chinese people of all ethnic groups must follow the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, hold high the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics, fully implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, carry forward the great founding spirit of the Party, maintain firm confidence, unite as one, forge ahead with resolve, and strive in unity to build a modern socialist country in all respects and advance national rejuvenation on all fronts.

To express the incomparable esteem and profound mourning of the whole Party, the entire military and the Chinese people of all ethnic groups for Comrade Jiang Zemin, it has been decided: From the date of publishing the letter to the date of holding the memorial meeting for Comrade Jiang Zemin, the national flags at Tian'anmen, Xinhuamen, the Great Hall of the People and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing, as well as the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Macao SAR and Chinese embassies and consulates in other countries will be flown at half-mast. 

Ahead of a UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday, all delegates observed a minute of silence for Jiang, according to the official Weibo account of the UN News on Wednesday. 

Many foreign media reported the news with major coverage. 

Reuters described Jiang as a president who "led the country for a decade of rapid economic growth," affirming his contribution of mending fences with the US. 

The Associated Press said on Wednesday that "Jiang guided the country's rise to economic power… China passed Germany and then Japan to become the second-largest economy after the US."

RT said that under Jiang's leadership, China continued its progress toward becoming an economic and political powerhouse.