What is Jiang Zemin known for?

Jiang Zemin was a Chinese politician who was the country’s president from 1993 to 2003. Since 1989, Jiang has represented the “core of the third generation” of CCP leaders.

Under Jiang’s leadership, China experienced significant economic growth, saw the return of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom in 1997 and Macau from Portugal in 1999.

He also improved China’s relations with the rest of the world, all while the Communist Party maintained tight control over the state.

Jiang’s main goal in the economy was stability, and he believed that a stable government with highly centralized power would be a prerequisite, opting to postpone political reform, which exacerbated the ongoing problems in many aspects of governance.

Jiang continued to pour money into the development of Special Economic Zones and coastal regions. However, Jiang faced criticism for human rights violations, which led to the suppression of the Falun Gong movement.

His contributions to party doctrine, known as the “Three Represents,” were incorporated into the CCP constitution in 2002.

Jiang became the PRC’s longest-living paramount leader on February 14, 2019, at the age of 96 years and 105 days, surpassing Deng Xiaoping. Jiang died of leukaemia complications on November 30, 2022.