Remains of ex-premier Li Peng to be cremated

The remains of former premier Li Peng will be cremated in Beijing on Monday.

Li, who served as premier from 1987 to 1998, died in Beijing on July 22 at the age of 91. He had also served as a member of the Political Bureau and the Secretariat of the 12th Communist Party of China Central Committee, and of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 13th, 14th and 15th central committees of the CPC, and as chairman of the ninth National People's Congress Standing Committee.

To mourn his death, national flags will fly at half-staff on Monday at Tian'anmen Square, 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 and Macao Special Administrative Region, and at border ports, seaports and airports, and Chinese embassies and consulates.

In an obituary jointly issued by the CPC Central Committee, the NPC Standing Committee, the State Council and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Li was remembered as an excellent member of the Communist Party of China, a time-tested and loyal Communist soldier, a prominent proletarian revolutionary and statesman, as well as an outstanding leader of the Party and the country.

Xinhua