Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a wreath on Friday to mourn Chen-ning Yang, a Nobel Prize-winning theoretical physicist who died in Beijing last Saturday at the age of 103.
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Cai Qi, the president’s chief of staff, was also among the Communist Party dignitaries to offer floral tributes for the funeral held at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery in western Beijing, where many of the country’s leaders are interred.
The farewell ceremony began at around 9am on Friday, with the late professor draped in the national flag of the People’s Republic of China and surrounded by flowers and evergreens at the memorial hall, according to the official Xinhua agency.
At the centre of the auditorium hung a large black banner inscribed with white Chinese characters in memory of Yang, while a portrait was displayed underneath, according to a Xinhua photo.
Below the portrait, Yang was flanked by two rows of wreaths.
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The first in one row was from Xi, bearing the president’s name and accompanied by a tribute couplet that said, “Deeply mourning Mr Chen-ning Yang”, according to the Xinhua photo. This was followed by a floral offering from Cai, who ranks fifth in the party hierarchy and is a member of the powerful Politburo Standing Committee and director of the party’s general office.