Communist elder Bo Yibo dies in China - media

HONG KONG, Jan 16 (Reuters) Bo Yibo, one of China's last revolutionary elders who swept to power with Mao Zedong in 1949 and later became an advocate of reform, has died, a report said today.

Bo, 98, died in a Beijing hospital late yesterday, the Web site of Hong Kong's Beijing-backed Takungpao newspapaer reported.

Bo's son, Bo Xilai, is China's Commerce Minister.

Asked about reports of Bo's death, a foreign ministry spokesman said today he would look into the matter.

A veteran of the Long March, the epic 8,000 km retreat that saved the Communist forces from annihilation in China's civil war, the elder Bo rose to become a finance minister and held a series of top economic posts in Mao's China.

During the Cultural Revolution, Bo was purged and imprisoned for more than 10 years, but later rehabilitated.

When paramount leader Deng Xiaoping rose to power at the end of the 1970s, the once staunchly communist Bo became a vocal supporter of economic reform.

REUTERS SP RN1449