Tao Jingzhou, an international arbitrator and a classmate of Li’s at Peking University, said he was astonished to hear of his sudden death.

“Keqiang has left us forever,” Tao wrote on X, the microblogging platform previously known as Twitter.

“He was a man who couldn’t be left idle in his life, who bowed down and showed restraint for the sake of his country, and it was too sudden for him to leave us.”

In a message to the South China Morning Post, Tao said Li would be remembered for his role as the first premier in China’s history with a bachelor’s degree in law and the first with a doctorate in economics.

“Without the reform and opening up and resumption of the college entrance examination system, he might have been farming in the countryside of Anhui province like me, and the door of Peking University would not have been opened for us,” Tao said.

Jiang Mingan, a Peking University law professor and another former classmate, said he was saddened by the news of Li’s passing, saying it was “beyond the power of any words” to describe how he felt.

It was a reaction shared by many who took to social media to pay tribute to a man remembered as “the people’s premier” for his down-to-earth but warm personality and caring and capable leadership.

Li Keqiang, former premier of China, dead after heart attack

In downtown Hefei, the capital of Anhui, locals laid flowers at the entrance to a residential compound where Li spent his childhood, according to photos circulating online.

“You served the people, and the people lift you high,” one card read.

“A great premier to the people, and the people of your hometown will always remember you,” said another.

Many who had interacted with the former premier shared photos of him on Weibo, including of his visit to Yaan in Sichuan province in 2013 immediately after the region was ravaged by a strong earthquake, and to a hospital in Wuhan in late January 2020, when he became the first top Chinese leader to visit the epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“It warmed my heart when Li told medical workers in Wuhan to call home every day,” one Weibo user wrote.

His tenure as premier saw Li, a fluent English-speaker, visit Europe several times to strengthen Beijing’s ties there, particularly after the trade war with the US began in 2018. He joined his counterparts from the European Union every year for the annual China-EU summit, which alternates between Beijing and Brussels as host cities.

Several European embassies in China offered their condolences.

“Switzerland was the first stop on his first visit to Europe after taking over as premier, during which he witnessed the signing of the China-Switzerland free trade agreement. We offer our condolences to all those who loved and respected him,” the Swiss embassy wrote on Weibo on Friday.

Dutch ambassador to China André Haspels said he was “deeply saddened” by Li’s death. During Li’s visit to the Netherlands in 2018, the two countries signed eight agreements valued at over 10 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion), involving cooperation in energy, finance, aviation and agricultural technology.

“Friendly exchanges with Li” were crucial to further strengthening Dutch-Chinese relations, the embassy posted to Weibo on Friday afternoon.

Li also co-chaired four Sino-German government consultations – a mechanism started in 2011 – during his decade in office.

On X, German ambassador to China Patricia Flor described Li as “a valued partner to Germany” who positively shaped bilateral ties. Li’s last meeting with his German counterpart was in November, when he hosted German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Beijing.

“He will be remembered,” Flor wrote.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida recalled Li’s 2018 visit to Tokyo, where the two countries marked the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Japan-China peace and friendship treaty.

Li “played an important role in the development of Japan-China relations for a long time,” Kishida said in a condolence message to Beijing on Friday afternoon, adding that he would be praying for his soul to rest in peace. Kishida also offered condolences to Li’s bereaved family, the Chinese government and the Chinese people.

In Washington, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed his condolences on the passing of Li, according to Matthew Miller, the State Department spokesman.

In Hong Kong, officials attending a press conference all wore black ties as a mark of respect for the late premier.

Tam Yiu-chung, former Hong Kong delegate to the National People’s Congress Standing Committee – the country’s top legislative decision-making body – said he was “stunned and saddened” by the news of Li’s death.

Since taking office in 2013, Li as premier received annual delegations led by Hong Kong chief executives to brief the country’s top leaders on the special administrative region’s political and economic development over the previous year.

Tam recalled his encounter with Li in a lift in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, and described him as warm and easy-going.

“Li was very much engaged in Hong Kong affairs and has all along been very supportive of Hong Kong’s development,” Tam said.

In a statement, the EU Chamber of Commerce in China said it was “deeply saddened” by the sudden passing of Li, who had “always paid close attention to the concerns of European companies operating in China”.

Premier Li’s second term: from ‘Likonomics’ to following orders

The chamber also described Li as “an important interlocutor for the foreign business community”.

“He was a pragmatic, forward-thinking man who placed great importance on the reform and opening of China’s economy,” it said.

Bert Hofman, director of the East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore, first met Li when he was party chief of Liaoning province, the economic powerhouse of China’s “rust-belt” northeastern industrial region.

“He always struck me as very committed to China’s development, intellectually curious, with a highly sophisticated understanding of the Chinese economy and how China could learn from international good practice in economic management,” Hofman said.

A World Bank employee for 27 years who became country director for China in 2014, Hofman had met Li several times as part of World Bank delegations when he served as vice-premier and then premier.

Tang Dajie, a senior researcher with the Beijing-based China Enterprise Institute, said one of the most impressive policies Li promoted was tax reform since 2016, in an effort to cut the burden on Chinese companies and release their economic potential.

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Former Chinese premier Li Keqiang dies of heart attack

Former Chinese premier Li Keqiang dies of heart attack

He was also behind an unprecedented tax rebate programme rolled out to support small and medium-sized enterprises after the coronavirus pandemic broke out in early 2020.

“For the public at large, what was most impressive was how, after the pandemic, Li showed his strong support for the so-called street-stall economy. It is a very tiny part [of the country’s economy] but the issue was raised by the premier of the country,” Tang said.

“You can tell his working style from this,” he said. “On one hand, he had adequate understanding of economic reforms and macroeconomy, and on the other, he was very concerned about some of the most basic and fundamental issues relating to the people’s livelihood.”

Additional reporting by Wendy Wu, Jun Mai, Frank Tang and Siqi Ji