The man widely known as China’s "Ping-pong" diplomat, Zhuang Zedong, has passed away in Beijing at the age of 73. His death comes after a four year battle against colon cancer .

Zhuang’s encounter with American athlete Glenn Cowan in 1971 marked the beginning of the end of decades of hostility between China and the United States. The period of warming bilateral ties was coined by late Chinese chairman Mao Zedong as "ping-pong diplomacy". It paved the way for US President Richard Nixon’s historic visit to China in 1972.

Born in 1940, Zhuang Zedong started playing table tennis at a very young age. He became a member of the Beijing table tennis team at the age of 17, and was a well-known sports star in the 1960s and 70s. He won three world table tennis championships and three team championships during that time.

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