City mourns former leader

By Fei Lai  |   2008-10-14  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

HUNDREDS of people gathered at Shanghai's Longhua Funeral Home yesterday morning to bid a final farewell to Xia Zhengnong, former secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China and a member of the CPC Central Advisory Committee.

An official statement said he died of illness at age of 105 at Shanghai Huadong Hospital on October 4.

After bowing three times in a traditional show of respect, mourners shook hands with Xia's family members.

Born in 1903, Xia was a native of Fengcheng City in eastern China's Jiangxi Province. He joined the CPC in 1926.

In 1928, he was appointed branch secretary of Fudan University's Communist Youth League of China Committee. He became secretary of the Publicity Division of the Central CYLC Committee in 1931.

He then joined the Left-wing Federation in 1933 and became one of its leaders.

He became first secretary of the Party committee of Fudan in 1978. He was appointed as a member of the Standing Committee of Shanghai Party Committee and then secretary of Shanghai CPC Committee in 1979.

He also serve as the head of the Shanghai Federation of Social Sciences and the Shanghai Federation of Literary and Art Circles and was editor-in-chief of Cihai, a comprehensive Chinese dictionary.

He was elected as a delegate to the first National People's Congress and the eighth National Party Congress.

"He is a man loyal to the people, the society and the motherland. As a member of the medical staff, I took care of Xia during his treatment at the hospital for two years," said Yu Zhuowei, director of Shanghai Huadong Hospital.

"To support and promote culture and education, Xia donated most of his savings to establish a foundation early this year. All he cared about was the country and its people even during his last days."