China’s Premier Li Keqiang waves as leaving the annual news conference following the closing session of the National People’s Congress at the Great Hall of the People on March 16, 2016 in Beijing, China.
Lintao Zhang | Getty Images News | Getty Images
China’s former premier Li Keqiang died just past midnight after suffering a heart attack while in Shanghai, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported Friday. He was 68.
Li ended a two-year term as premier in March.
People commenting on Chinese social media expressed their shock and condolences at the news.
Li was generally considered relatively economic-reform minded and had close ties with former president Hu Jintao. That sometimes put Li at odds with Hu’s successor, Chinese President Xi Jinping.
As Li ended his run as premier, Xi stayed on for an unprecedented third term as president and installed loyalist Li Qiang, former Shanghai party secretary, as the new premier this year.
The premier is also the head of China’s top executive body, the State Council.
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