ANKARA 

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday attended the funeral ceremony of former Premier Li Keqiang, who was cremated in Beijing after dying of a heart attack last week in Shanghai at the age of 68, state media reported.

Li's remains were cremated at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery.

As a mark of respect, flags were lowered at half-mast at the Tiananmen Square, and at government offices around China and embassies and consulates abroad.

Xi along with his wife Peng Liyuan and other senior officials stood in silence besides Li's remains to pay their respects, and offered condolences to his family. Former President Hu Jintao did not attend, but sent a memorial wreath.

Li served as China’s premier from 2013 to 2023, and was a member of the all-powerful politburo of the Chinese Communist Party for a decade.

He was born in Hefei, Anhui province in 1955 and was married to Cheng Hong, a professor of English.

The Xinhua news agency described Li as an "excellent Chinese Communist Party member, a time-tested and loyal communist soldier and an outstanding proletarian revolutionist, statesman and leader of the Party and the state."

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid