Mr Jiang, who was president from 1989 to 2003, died from leukaemia and multiple organ failure on Wednesday afternoon in Shanghai.

He became president after the bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square.

The former soap factory manager stepped down as party chief in 2002, but remained head of the military for another year and remained an influential figure in Chinese politics.

His death comes as China faces widespread anti-lockdown protests across the country on a level of dissent likened to the pro-democracy movement centred on Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Under Mr Jiang, China saw economic reform which led to a decade of explosive growth.

The country weathered the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis and pulled in foreign investment after joining the World Trade Organisation in 2001 following 12 years of negotiation. Mr Jiang also secured the bid to host the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

'A beloved comrade'

A letter to the Chinese people by the ruling Communist Party and government officials announcing Mr Jiang's death, described it as an "incalculable loss".

It read: "Comrade Jiang Zemin's death is an incalculable loss to our Party and our military and our people of all ethnic groups".

It called him a "beloved comrade", an outstanding leader of high prestige and a great Marxist.

Mr Jiang also saw the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997 following the British handover after more than 150 years of British rule.

Crackdown on dissent at home

Although China was led out of isolation under Mr Jiang's government, a crackdown on dissent at home continued.

His successors have used his phrase "stability above all else" to justify intensive social controls.

Human rights and pro-democracy activists were jailed and a ban was placed on the meditation group Falun Gong, which was viewed as a threat to the ruling party's power.

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Mr Jiang also attempted to strengthen political ties outside China and travelled to the US to meet the then US President Bill Clinton.

He was also one of the few world leaders to meet former US President George W Bush at his ranch in Crawford, Texas in 2002.

Mr Jiang was last seen in public in October 2019 among other former leaders watching a military parade at Tiananmen Square.

In 2022, he handed his post as party leader to Hu Jintao who was seen being unexpectedly escorted out of a closing ceremony of the ruling Communist Party last month.

Mr Jiang was born on 17 August 1926 in the affluent eastern city of Yangzhou.