Liu Yandong, China's former vice premier and a former member of the elite Politburo, died in Beijing on Wednesday, state-run Xinhua news agency said, Reuters reported.

Source: Reuters via 98.5 The River

An official obituary carried by Xinhua said Liu died of illness at 14:53 on Wednesday, 28 October, in Beijing, and described her as an excellent Party member, a time-tested and loyal communist fighter, and an outstanding leader in the Communist Party's united front work and in China's education, science and technology, healthcare, and work related to women and children, according to reports of the obituary.

Source: Dimsum Daily (Xinhua obituary)

Reuters said Liu was 80 when she died. She was born in November 1945 in Nantong, Jiangsu province, joined the Communist Party in July 1964, and studied engineering chemistry at Tsinghua University before later earning a doctorate in law from Jilin University, according to the official biography summarised in reports of her death.

One of very few women at the top

Liu was widely regarded as the most prominent and highest-ranking female official in China during much of her tenure in the country's male-dominated political leadership, Reuters said. She was one of only a handful of women ever to serve as a full member of the Politburo since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949, and Reuters noted that the current 21 members of the Politburo are all men.

2013–2018Years Liu served as vice premier of the State Council
2007 and 2012Elected to the 17th and then the 18th Politburo
2002–2007Headed the Party's United Front Work Department
1945Born in November 1945 in Nantong, Jiangsu

Liu headed the United Front Work Department, which manages the Party's relations with non-Communist groups, from 2002 to 2007. She became a state councillor in 2008 and served as vice premier from 2013 to 2018, overseeing education, health and sport, and she was a vice chair of the organising committee for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, according to the official biography.

Hong Kong chief executive mourns her

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee expressed profound sorrow over Liu's passing and extended condolences to her family on behalf of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Lee said Liu had served as a member of the Preparatory Committee of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and as deputy leader of the Central Coordination Group for Hong Kong and Macao Affairs, had visited Hong Kong on multiple occasions, and had officiated at the opening ceremony of the 5th East Asian Games.

Source: Hong Kong Business Wire (HKSAR statement)

What happens next

Chinese state media had not announced memorial arrangements in the first reports of Liu's death on Wednesday evening. Official obituaries of former Politburo members are normally followed by funeral arrangements announced by Beijing.