Remains of late Chinese leader Wu Bangguo to be cremated

BEIJING, Oct. 12 -- The remains of Wu Bangguo, former chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, will be cremated in Beijing on Oct. 14.

Wu, who died in Beijing on Tuesday at the age of 84, had served as a member of the Political Bureau and a member of the Secretariat of the 14th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, a member of the Political Bureau of the 15th CPC Central Committee, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 16th and 17th central committees of the CPC, vice premier of the State Council, and chairman of the Standing Committee of the 10th and 11th NPCs.

To mourn his death, national flags will fly at half-mast on Oct. 14 at Tian'anmen Square, Xinhuamen, the Great Hall of the People, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, seats of provincial-level committees of the CPC and provincial-level governments, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macao Special Administrative Region, border ports, seaports and airports, and Chinese embassies and consulates.

Wu was extolled in an obituary jointly issued by the CPC Central Committee, the NPC Standing Committee, the State Council and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, as an excellent Party member, a time-tested and loyal communist soldier and an outstanding proletarian revolutionary, statesman and leader of the Party and the state.