The author of the Latin transcription of Chinese characters, Zhou Yuguang, has died

In Beijing, the linguist Zhou Yuguang, who created the pinyin system for writing Chinese characters in Latin letters, died. Zhou Youguang died on January 14, the day after his 111th birthday.

• Zhou Youguang was born in 1906, he received a Western education at Shanghai St. John's University, after which he worked as a banker and economist in New York and London.
• In 1949, Zhou Yuguang returned to China after the Communists came to power and set about developing a system that would allow characters to be written in the Latin alphabet. In 1958, the pinyin he developed (Chinese - a recording of the sounds of the Chinese language) was officially approved by the PRC authorities.
• In recent years, the linguist has criticized the ruling Chinese Communist Party and called for reforms, for which he was banned from official events.