BEIJING, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Zhu Guangya, who contributed to the development of China's first atom and hydrogen bombs, died Saturday at age 87.

Zhu was a senior academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering. He served as vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, China's top political advisory body, between 1994 and 2003.

Born in central China's Yichang city, Zhu obtained a PhD in nuclear physics from the University of Michigan in 1950. That year he returned to China. He joined the Communist Party of China in 1956.