Chinese public and experts lamented the loss of a China-friendly world leader, after former Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) Kofi Annan passed away on Saturday.

　　Annan, 80, died peacefully in a hospital in Bern, Switzerland on Saturday after a short illness, according to a statement released on Saturday on the website of the Kofi Annan Foundation.

　　Thousands of Chinese social media posts lament Annan's death. The hashtag "former Secretary-General of the UN Kofi Annan passed away" on Sina Weibo was viewed for more than 10 million times as of press time.

　　"You were a good friend with the Chinese people, and you have greatly contributed to world peace and development. The history will not forget you, China will not forget you," reads a Weibo comment.

　　Born in 1938 in Ghana, Annan served as the seventh UN secretary-general from January 1997 to December 2006.

　　He visited China seven times during his terms, and even more after he left the office.

　　In a speech delivered at Peking University in 2015, Annan said that China has reasserted its centrality in global affairs thanks to domestic economic reforms and openness to the world, and that China has everything to gain by upholding a rules-based international order while also working to reshape that order to fit the new realities.

　　"Annan visited China multiple times during his terms and experienced firsthand China's changes over time, and made relatively objective assessments on China's achievements," Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University's Institute of International Relations, told the Global Times on Sunday.

　　Li noted that Annan's terms in office coincided with China joining the World Trade Organization and China's accelerating progress of its reform. As Secretary-General of the UN, Annan has presented to the world a China that is reforming and opening up from an objective point of view.

　　Annan was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize for Peace jointly with the UN.

　　During the UN reform in Annan's terms, he balanced interests of different parties and kept the organization stable, Li said, noting that Annan took effective care of the needs and appeals of third-world countries including China.

　　"For changes Annan has brought to the UN and his contribution to the world and peace, he deserves to be remembered and respected," Li said.