While standard Communist Party practice dictates that former leaders are honoured at similar milestones, Friday's commemorations were closely watched given the delicate nature of Hu's legacy.

A trailblazing liberal reformer of the 1980s, Hu represented a dramatic departure from the party's Maoist ideals, agitating for greater Western-style freedoms and government transparency.

Controversially ousted in 1987 for committing "grave mistakes" in tolerating "bourgeois liberalisation", his sudden death two years later inspired an outpouring of grief which precipitated the pro-democracy demonstrations at Tiananmen Square.

Mr Xi steered clear of those sensitive matters in a glowing recount of Hu's "glorious achievements" at Beijing's Great Hall of the People, attended by all seven members of the Politburo Standing Committee, relatives and high-ranking party cadres.

"Comrade Hu Yaobang devoted his entire life to the party and the people," Mr Xi said, describing his predecessor as "a loyal communist soldier, great proletarian revolutionist and statesman".

Highlighting the sensitivity of the event, one attendee told Fairfax Media that - unlike previous commemorations - mobile phones and cameras were required to be left outside. Identity cards were checked carefully along with invitations.

Mr Xi's prominent recognition of Hu is notable given the stark contrast in the two men's styles.

Hu was instrumental in ensuring Mr Xi's father, Xi Zhongxun, was rehabilitated after an earlier purge under Mao Zedong. Retired party cadres and intellectuals with a liberal bent had hoped Mr Xi would take after Hu, given the close bond between the two families, but have been left disappointed by the president's conservatism and aggressive moves to silence dissent and political discussion as he cements his leadership.

The carefully stage-managed commemoration has been seen by analysts as designed to appease those growing frustrations, rather than signalling an eventual full recognition of Hu's legacy or official acknowledgement of the bloody crackdown at Tiananmen Square.

"It has some significance in terms of appeasing some people, but free discussion is forbidden on the internet and reporting of this can only be based on what [the Chinese state news agency] Xinhua says," said Zhang Ming, a political science professor at Renmin University.

But one attendee, whose father was close to Hu, said she felt the commemoration on the whole gave the former leader's legacy due recognition, with the scale of the ceremony only matched by those for former party heavyweights such a Deng Xiaoping and Chen Yun.

"The regret is that there was no mention of his unjust treatment [when ousted in 1987]," she said. "But some things in history can't be said clearly in just a word."

The commemoration was prominently reported on the front page of Communist Party mouthpiece the People's Daily and the primetime bulletin of state broadcaster CCTV. The People's Publishing House on Thursday published a collection of Hu's speeches and works, ranging from 1952 to 1986.