China’s Vice-President Li Yuanchao to attend Lee Kuan Yew's funeral

Vice-President Li Yuanchao will be the most senior Chinese official to attend the state funeral of Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore, while President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang will not attend, Beijing has confirmed.

The state funeral of Singapore's founding father, who died on Monday, will be held in Singapore tomorrow.

Li Yuanchao is not among the top seven members of the Politburo Standing Committee but is a lower-ranking leader of the Politburo.

India, meanwhile, will observe a national day of mourning tomorrow as a mark of respect for Lee, with the Indian flag to be flown at half-mast across the country and no official entertainment scheduled that day, according to Indian media reports.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters in Beijing yesterday: "As I understand, Vice-President Li Yuanchao will represent China to go to Singapore to attend the funeral of former Singaporean prime minister Lee Kuan Yew. The relevant information will be officially announced very soon."

Former Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee-hwa will be the city's most senior official to attend the state funeral.