China's former top legislator Wu Bangguo dies at 84

BEIJING -- Wu Bangguo, former chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, died of illness at the age of 84 in Beijing at 4:36 am Tuesday, an official statement said.

Wu had served as a member of the Political Bureau and a member of the Secretariat of the 14th Communist Party of China Central Committee, a member of the Political Bureau of the 15th CPC Central Committee, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 16th and 17th central committees of the CPC, vice-premier of the State Council, and chairman of the Standing Committee of the 10th and 11th NPCs.

An obituary notice jointly issued by the CPC Central Committee, the NPC Standing Committee, the State Council and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, extolled Wu as an excellent Party member, a time-tested and loyal communist soldier and an outstanding proletarian revolutionary, statesman and leader of the Party and the state.