# Reassessing Zhu Rongji's Economic Legacy: How Reform Reshaped China's Economy > After the death of former Premier Zhu Rongji, attention turns again to the reforms he drove in the 1990s. From state enterprise restructuring to WTO accession, they reshaped China's economy and left a complex, far-reaching legacy. - Source: Times of China (Times of China) - Canonical URL: https://timesofchina.cn.com/en/article/zhu-rongji-economic-reform-legacy - Chinese edition: https://timesofchina.cn.com/article/zhu-rongji-economic-reform-legacy - Author: 中国时报编辑部 - Section: Business - Published: 2026-08-18T12:00:00+08:00 - Updated: 2026-08-18T12:00:00+08:00 - Tags: 朱镕基, 经济改革, 国企改革, 世贸组织, 中国经济 --- After the death of former Premier Zhu Rongji, attention has turned once again to the sweeping economic transformation of the 1990s. As the man at the helm of China's economy at the time, he drove a series of bold reforms that pushed the country toward a more market-oriented system, leaving behind a complex and far-reaching legacy. ## Sweeping reforms The 1990s were a pivotal period in the transformation of China's economic system. Faced with soaring inflation, Zhu moved decisively to cool the economy and steadied prices. The reforms he then led touched almost every corner of economic life. In the state sector, the approach of grasping the large and letting go of the small reshaped a vast body of state-owned enterprises, accompanied by the painful reality of large numbers of workers being laid off. The tax-sharing reform introduced in 1994 redrew fiscal relations between the central and local governments, laying the groundwork for Beijing's later capacity for macroeconomic control. Housing reform ended welfare housing allocation and gave rise to what would become a huge property market. At the same time, the streamlining of government bodies and reform of the financial system moved ahead in parallel. ## Opening the door to the world During Zhu's tenure, and after arduous negotiations, China formally joined the World Trade Organization in 2001. That step embedded China more deeply in the global trading system, opening the door to decades of export growth and inflows of foreign investment, and gradually giving shape to China's role as a workshop of the world. For many observers, WTO accession was one of the most far-reaching achievements of his time in office. ## A complex legacy These reforms unleashed enormous momentum for growth. In the years that followed, China's economy kept expanding rapidly, hundreds of millions of people were lifted out of poverty, the middle class kept growing, and foreign companies flocked in. Today's large and more market-driven Chinese economy is inseparable from that round of reform. Yet not every reform ended in success. Efforts to clean up the bad debts of state banks did set up asset management companies to take on the non-performing loans, but the deeper problems were never fully resolved, and reforms in areas such as pensions and social security left unfinished business. Known for being iron-faced and incorruptible, Zhu won considerable praise for his resolve, yet also ran into heavy resistance as he pushed his reforms forward. Years later, debate continues over which of his reforms triumphed and which stalled halfway. But whatever the verdict, Zhu Rongji's name is now bound tightly to the history of that profound transformation of China's economy. --- Originally published by Times of China. Free to cite with attribution and a link to https://timesofchina.cn.com/en/article/zhu-rongji-economic-reform-legacy.