He was persecuted during the ultraleftist 1966-76 Cultural Revolution but rehabilitated in 1978 when then-supreme leader Deng invited him to help launch the overhaul. Deng called Mr. Rong his ''Red Capitalist."
Mr. Rong created the government's China International Trust and Investment Corp., or CITIC. It became China's most respected international business organization, with holdings abroad in companies ranging from Hong Kong banks to Australian aluminum smelters.
Mr. Rong later served as a vice premier and was named vice president in 1993, becoming China's highest-ranking noncommunist official. He held that post until 1998.
Mr. Rong's death was reported Thursday evening on the national state television news, an unusual honor for a noncommunist figure.
The government declared him a ''great fighter for patriotism and communism" and a ''superb state leader," Xinhua said.
In 2000, Forbes magazine ranked Mr. Rong as China's richest businessman, with a family fortune estimated at $1.9 billion in CITIC shares.
His son, Larry Yung, also known as Rong Zhijian, is chairman of CITIC's Hong Kong arm, Citic Pacific Ltd., with a fortune estimated at $1 billion.
No information about other survivors was released.
