State news agency Xinhua issued a statement on Thursday afternoon accompanied by a picture of Mr Xi offering condolences to Li’s widow Cheng Hong.
Mr Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan were in attendance, along with new premier Li Qiang and other members of the Politburo Standing Committee, which makes up the top rung of the Party leadership.
Kyle Jaros, a professor on global affairs at the University of Notre Dame, says the Chinese public tends to feel a closer affinity to premiers whose mandates involve more domestic issues - as was the case with Li who often spoke of China’s challenges, including jobs and cost of living.
According to the US-based China Digital Times, which also monitors Chinese censorship, Beijing had ordered platforms and media outlets to “pay particular attention to overly effusive” comments.
In contrast, on Chinese social media platform Weibo, a hashtag related to Li received more than 360 million views and 17,000 comments as of 13:30 local time (5:30 GMT) on Thursday.
In Li’s hometown Hefei the BBC encountered difficulty speaking to mourners as local officials and party volunteers interrupted interviews and ordered the crew to leave.
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