Jiang Zemin, the unlikely former leader who stewarded China through groundbreaking economic reforms and served as a bridge between the country's strongman era and a more consensus-driven government, has died. He was 96.
Chinese state television reported Jiang's death Wednesday, saying the former leader had died in Shanghai, a city he once led as mayor.
The announcement ends periodic speculation about whether the ailing party elder, who served as the country's Communist Party chief from 1989 to 2002 and president from 1993 to 2003, had died.
