中国前国务院总理朱镕基于周三在北京因病逝世，享年97岁。他在1998年至2003年担任总理期间，带领中国度过了1997年亚洲金融危机，并成功推动中国加入世界贸易组织，为中国经济的崛起奠定了基础。

朱镕基以大刀阔斧的经济改革闻名。他对国有企业进行了彻底重组，关闭了大量低效企业以解决债务问题，同时大力推动私营部门的发展，并设立资产管理公司以清理银行不良贷款，使中国银行业得以上市并更加市场化。

在政治与个人特质上，他强调政府官员必须敢于讲真话和承担重任，并积极推动反腐败与精简官僚机构的行动。他在外交场合展现出流利的英语与幽默感，卸任后则致力于提升母校清华大学的国际地位及资助乡村教育。

Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji died of an illness in Beijing on Wednesday at the age of 97. During his tenure as premier from 1998 to 2003, he guided China through the 1997 Asian financial crisis and successfully engineered the country's entry into the World Trade Organization, laying the foundation for its economic rise.

Zhu was renowned for his bold and sweeping economic reforms. He overhauled state-owned enterprises by shutting down inefficient companies to address mounting debt, promoted the growth of the private sector, and established asset-management firms to clear bad loans from banks, enabling them to go public and become more market-oriented.

Personally and politically, he emphasized that government officials must dare to speak the truth and take on heavy responsibilities while actively leading anti-corruption campaigns and efforts to trim government bureaucracy. He impressed foreign leaders with his fluent English and sense of humor, and spent his post-retirement years elevating the international stature of his alma mater, Tsinghua University, and funding rural education.