Former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin dies at 96

Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin, known as an economic reformer but one who helped the Communist Party strengthen its position after the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, has died, officials said Wednesday. He was 96 years old.

Media reports said that Jiang died of leukemia and multiple organ failure. His death was made public in a letter by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China, among others.

Jiang was tasked with improving China's image during worldwide condemnation after the military's deadly putdown of student-led pro-democracy protests at Tiananmen Square.

The former mayor of Shanghai, Jiang invited entrepreneurs to join the Communist Party and increase economic changes while modernizing the Chinese military and tightening political control during his 11-year rule.

"He managed to steer China from great difficulties to great promise," Jia Qingguo, the former dean of Peking University's School of International Studies, told NPR.

"China became -- under his leadership -- more open to the outside world, more liberal and China's economy became more dynamic."

The Central Committee's letter called Jiang "an outstanding leader" who was acknowledged by the entire party, the military and the Chinese people.

He was described as "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."

Jiang's leadership in China's capitalist transformation helped the country build its middle and upper classes, lifting it into the world's second-largest economy behind the United States. His political stature helped usher in the current President, Xi Jinping.