Many international newspapers wrote about the passing of Mr. Nguyen Ba Thanh.

Foreign press has praised Mr. Nguyen Ba Thanh's achievements and shared the grief of the Vietnamese people when he passed away.

Mr. Nguyen Ba Thanh is always trusted and entrusted with the wishes of the people of Da Nang. Photo: Nguyen Dong.

French news agency AFP published an article titled "Beloved Vietnamese Communist Party official passes away".

Describing Mr Thanh as "a high-ranking figure with wide popularity" among the public, the agency said the 62-year-old official was a leader who had helped eliminate corruption and bureaucracy, reforming the coastal city of Da Nang into a tourism and investment hub.

"He is a big name, well-known among both foreign investors and street vendors," the agency wrote.

Many foreign newspapers, including Asiaone and Bangkok Post, quoted the above news and described the scene of hundreds of people gathering outside Mr. Thanh's private home in Da Nang to express their condolences to the man who led the city from 1997 to 2013. Many commentators praised him for what he did for the poor and considered him a model leader.

"The country has lost a talented leader with a warm heart," Bangkok Post quoted a reader's comment in an article on VnExpress.

MSN News quoted Mr. Jonathan London, a Vietnam expert at a university in Hong Kong, saying that Mr. Thanh "has a great record of experimentation and achievements".

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) describes Mr. Thanh as "a prominent and widely admired Vietnamese politician." He joined the Party at the age of 27, then became Chairman of the Da Nang People's Committee, Secretary of the Da Nang City Party Committee before becoming Head of the Internal Affairs Committee and Deputy Head of the Central Steering Committee on Anti-Corruption.

"His stature was built on dynamic and decisive leadership of the rapidly growing and investor-friendly city of Da Nang," CSIS said. "His passing is a great loss to Vietnam. Mr. Thanh's influence extended far beyond the scope of a city government leader."

BBC published the article "Nguyen Ba Thanh will be remembered forever" by author Jonathan London.

"Among Nguyen Ba Thanh's most remarkable qualities were his ability to give long talks, sometimes lasting up to three hours, but with such naturalness and conviction that his cheerfulness and humor made his speeches and statements spectacular," London wrote. "Nguyen Ba Thanh will be widely missed, throughout Vietnam."

According to Vnexpress