A memorial meeting for a Chinese jurisprudential scholar, regarded as the pioneer of the country's bankruptcy law, was held in Beijing on Tuesday.

Cao Siyuan, 68, the renowned economist and law specialist who drafted the first Chinese Bankruptcy Law, died suddenly on Friday from pulmonary infection and heart failure brought on by cancer at Chinese PLA General Hospital in Beijing, according to Cao's micro blog on Sina Weibo.

Cao had worked hard until his death and recently became interested in poetry, the blog said.

Cao, a native of Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, graduated from the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in 1982 and devoted himself to the study of bankruptcy.

He was diagnosed with cancer in 2011, but he still participated in research and conferences.

The major contribution of Cao's career was guiding the draft of the bankruptcy law adopted on Dec 2, 1986, by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, "which is a milestone in our country", said Wang Weiguo, a professor specializing in economic law at China University of Political Science and Law. "His advanced legal ideas are still enlightening us."

When Cao raised the idea of a bankruptcy law for China, some people doubted whether a socialist country could have such a thing, according to Wang, but he said Cao explained the importance of the bankruptcy legislation to legal professionals.

"His contributions to pushing forward the law deserve our respect, and his efforts cannot be ignored," Wang said. "I had the honor to meet and talk with Cao at seminars, and he gave us many good suggestions in the study of bankruptcy."