Former Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong Dies at 80

Liu Yandong, a former vice premier and one of only six women to serve on the Chinese Communist Party's Politburo, died Wednesday in Beijing at age 80 after a long illness.

A daughter of a former vice minister of agriculture, Liu rose through the Communist Youth League and headed the United Front before joining the Politburo in 2007. As vice premier starting in 2013, she managed portfolios for health, education, science, and technology. Her tenure included overseeing planning for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and supporting the growth of China's high-end manufacturing and semiconductor sectors.

Liu also worked to deepen bilateral ties with the United States, collaborating with former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the China-U.S. High Level Consultation on People-to-People Exchange. While the state news agency Xinhua described her as a loyal communist fighter, her career is often cited as an example of the constraints facing women in Chinese politics, as no woman has ever reached the party's top decision-making body, the Standing Committee.