Former Chinese premier Li Keqiang to be cremated on November 2

Li Keqiang was in Shanghai for rest after retiring from active politics in March this year, the state media reported.

The cremation of former Chinese premier Li Keqiang will take place here on Thursday, an official announcement said on Tuesday, days after the acclaimed reform-minded economist died suddenly.

Residents mourn for the late former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at a designated place in Zhengzhou city.(AP)

Li, 68 who was a contender for power against Chinese President Xi Jinping a decade ago, died of a heart attack on October 27 in Shanghai, just months after stepping down.

He was in Shanghai for rest after retiring from active politics in March this year, the state media reported.

"The remains of Comrade Li Keqiang will be cremated in Beijing on Thursday," the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Li was a contender for power against Xi to head the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) when the party leadership transition took place in 2012 but later settled for the number two position as the premier from March 2013 to March 2023.

An obituary issued by the CPC, the Cabinet and Parliament described Li's death as a huge loss.

He was extolled as an excellent CPC member, a time-tested and loyal communist soldier and an outstanding proletarian revolutionist, statesman and leader of the Party and the state.

His remains were transferred to Beijing from Shanghai aboard a special flight on October 27.

To mourn his death, national flags will fly at half-mast on Thursday at Tian'anmen Square, Xinhuamen, the Great Hall of the People, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing, seats of CPC committees and governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.

The national flags in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macao Special Administrative Region, border ports, seaports and airports of entry, and Chinese embassies and consulates will also fly at half-mast, an official announcement here said.

Thousands of people visited Li’s childhood home in Hefei in Anhui province to mourn his sudden death just months after his retirement.

A report by the Hong Kong-based China Morning Post earlier said the government has asked student bodies of some Chinese universities not to organise private commemoration activities for Li in an apparent bid to avoid social turmoil.

Li had a reputation as a moderate reformist and won the admiration of the Chinese people for managing the economy which was in a slowdown mode during his 10-year tenure.

Though ranked number two in the ruling Chinese Communist Party hierarchy, Li was side-lined and mostly spent his years in the government focusing on the management of the economy, while Xi emerged as the most powerful leader after Party founder Mao Zedong, heading the party, the military and the Presidency.

In the past, the Chinese government had reportedly taken precautionary measures to avoid similar student protests at Tian'anmen Square in Beijing in 1989, following the death of popular moderate Communist Party chief Hu Yaobang.