SHANGHAI, China (AFP) — Mobile apps and state media websites turned black-and-white, flags on some government buildings in Beijing were at half-mast, and flowers were laid as China on Thursday mourned the death of former leader Jiang Zemin.

State media said Jiang had died of leukemia and multiple organ failure in Shanghai on Wednesday at the age of 96 after all medical treatments failed, and that funeral preparations had begun.

Floral tributes were laid in Jiang's hometown of Yangzhou and nearby Shanghai, where police were deployed in force on Thursday morning around the intersections near the hospital where he was rumored to have died, AFP reporters saw.

At around 12:45 p.m., they saw a convoy of vehicles coming from the direction of the hospital, headed by a car bearing what appeared to be a wreath of yellow flowers on its bonnet.

The convoy then headed toward Hongqiao airport.

On Thursday, pictures on social media showed the walls of Jiang's old residence in Yangzhou lined with bouquets of flowers, with some people bowing as they placed them there.

CCTV said Wednesday that flags would be flown at half-mast at some government buildings until the funeral.

The websites of state media and government-owned businesses turned black-and-white, as did apps such as Alipay, Taobao and even McDonald's China.