Municipality takes measures to boost growth

Zhang Dejiang was the focus of a panel discussion at the Chongqing Room of the Great Hall of the People on Thursday afternoon.

Expectedly so. After all, this was his first meeting with international reporters in Beijing following his appointment on March 14 as Party chief of Chongqing, replacing Bo Xilai.

Bo was accused of taking advantage of his position to seek profit for others and receiving huge bribes. Investigations also indicate he bore responsibility in a homicide case involving his wife Bogu Kailai, who was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for the murder of British national Neil Heywood.

Answering a barrage of questions from reporters on the sidelines of the ongoing 18th Party Congress, Zhang declined to give a timetable for possible judicial proceeding against the disgraced former Chongqing Party chief.

Zhang Dejiang (center), Party chief of Chongqing, and Huang Qifan (right), the city's mayor, share a light moment during a panel discussion at the 18th Party Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday. Zou Hong / China Daily

"The policy of reform and opening-up for Chongqing will not change," Zhang, also a vice-premier, said in a terse reply to a packed room of reporters.

As to the so-called Chongqing model of development, he said: "I think that there is no such thing as a Chongqing model."

He added: "To date, I have yet to hear of evidence to prove Heywood was a spy," in reply to a question from Reuters.

Zhang said his mind was focused on attending the Party congress, and studying and deliberating on President Hu Jintao's political report.

"I'm also thinking about how to implement the spirit of the 18th National Congress," he said.

Zhang headed a team of 10 speakers from the Chongqing delegation who discussed their understanding of the insightful remarks in Hu's keynote speech to the congress, and how they will translate these words into action once the political report is endorsed at the end of the weeklong event.

They highly praised the theory of the Scientific Outlook on Development, the most important achievement of the Party in the past decade, and a theory that has become a guideline for the Party.

Zhang said people in Chongqing want to improve their standard of living. The gross domestic product of the municipality of 33 million people ranked 23rd among mainland provinces and regions in 2011, with the per capita income of its residents being lower than the national average.

"So scientific development is the priority of the government," he said.

Chongqing Mayor Huang Qifan admitted that the Bo and Wang Lijun cases stalled investment, and caused foreign and domestic investors to hesitate about putting their money into the municipality earlier in the year.

"The Party and the central government have taken timely steps, and since Zhang came in March, we have taken a series of measures ... for stable growth and stable investment," Huang said.

The number of private enterprises increased by 20 percent in the first nine months of the year, proving that the investment environment in Chongqing is improving, the mayor said.

Its imports and exports amounted to $40.4 billion in the same period, a surge of 120 percent, according to statistics provided by the municipal government.

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