Early on Thursday morning, people stood quietly in the chilly wind blowing through Beijing's Tian'anmen Square as the national flag was flown at half-staff in a ceremony to mourn Jiang.

Ren Yuhe, a Beijing resident who attended the ceremony, said, "Jiang led the Party's leadership to shape and carry out a slew of policies and major strategies to advance reform, development and the nation's stability, giving many ordinary people like me the chance to change our fate."

In 1999, Jiang believed the time was ripe to speed up the development of China's central and western regions, which lagged behind the eastern coastal regions, according to major economic indicators.

Later that year, the landmark western development strategy was officially introduced to channel more resources, talent and favorable policies to the region and narrow the economic gap.