Chen Liangyu

Chen Liangyu (Chinese: 陈良宇; born October 24, 1946, in Shanghai) is a Chinese politician best known for his tenure as the Party Secretary of Shanghai, the city's top office, and a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, from 2002 to 2006.

Chen worked in Shanghai for his entire public life, serving as mayor from 2001 to 2003. Chen took on numerous mega-projects while he was mayor, including the mass expansion of the Shanghai Subway and the construction of the Yangshan Port. Chen contributed to the city's economic development and was instrumental in Shanghai's bid to host the 2010 World Expo. Chen, a prominent member of the Shanghai clique, was also known for his political partisanship and opposition to the macro-economic control policies of the Hu-Wen Administration.

In September 2006, Chen was removed from office after a scandal came to light about the misuse of money in Shanghai's social security fund (see Shanghai pension scandal). He became the second incumbent Politburo member since the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre to be expelled from the party. In April 2008, Chen was sentenced to 18 years in prison upon conviction on charges of financial fraud and bribery.

Chen graduated from the PLA Institute of Logistics Engineering, majoring in architecture. He had two years of experience working in the military between 1968 and 1970 as part of the PLA 6716 Squadron. From September 1970 to March 1983, Chen worked at the Shanghai Pengpu Machinery Factory as a worker and estimator. He was eventually promoted to the capital construction branch vice-section chief. He also went on a year-long sabbatical to Tongji University. In March 1983 he was promoted to become deputy plant manager of the Shanghai Pengpu machine factory, as well as the party committee deputy secretary of the Shanghai Metallurgy Mining Machinery Company. He joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in April 1980. By March 1984, Chen gained further promotion, becoming the CCP Secretary for Shanghai's Electronic Appliances Bureau. Between January 1985 and February 1987, he became bureau chief and assistant commissioner of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee – Old cadre bureau. In February 1987, Chen gained a posting as the new magistrate for Huangpu District in Shanghai. He went on sabbatical studying public administration at the University of Birmingham from January to September 1992 through a UK government-funded Chevening Scholarship.

Chen was promoted to be Deputy Mayor of Shanghai in 1996, concurrently holding the CCP Vice-Secretary position. As then CCP General Secretary Jiang Zemin made his political manoeuvers before the 16th Party Congress in 2002 to strengthen the Shanghai power base with his loyalties, Chen became the beneficiary, replacing then-Mayor Xu Kuangdi, becoming Mayor of Shanghai in late 2002, and Secretary of the CCP Shanghai Municipal Committee in February 2003. He was therefore granted membership in the Politburo of the CCP Central Committee. As an ally of former general secretary Jiang Zemin, Chen was to keep Jiang's Shanghai base of power while CCP General Secretary Hu Jintao was given all official positions of power. Chen is believed to be linked to real estate magnate and banker Zhou Zhengyi in the Shanghai Real Estate scandals, where residents were forced to relocate for new housing developments where old-style apartments were being demolished to build modern-style condominiums.

Chen Liangyu became the CCP Committee Secretary for Shanghai in November 2002, the city's top office. As is customary for the occupants of this office, he was also given a seat on the Politburo of the 16th CCP Central Committee. During Chen's term in office, Shanghai's economy grew rapidly, which contributed to significant improvements in the living standards of the city's residents.

During Chen's term in office, Shanghai's average annual economic growth rate stood at about 13%, at the forefront of the country, had an average annual revenue growth of over 20%, and over the years turned over to the proportion of the central finance more than 15%. The annual import and export volume of the Port of Shanghai exceeded 400 billion U.S. dollars, at an average annual increase of over 30%. The cargo throughput of the port exceeded 500 million tons, ranking first in the world. Municipal infrastructure and large-scale industrial production construction projects proceeded at a rapid pace; prominent examples include the Yangshan Deepwater Port (Figure), the Shanghai World Financial Center, the Shanghai Metro, and Jiangnan Shipyard Changxing Island base, and the Shanghai Chemical Industrial Zone. These large scale projects cemented Shanghai's position as the economic heart of the country.

Urban traffic congestion and poor public transit had been a long-standing problem in Shanghai. Chen Liangyu was personally invested in the issue, and during his term in office Shanghai saw significant improvements to its transit system and transport infrastructure. As a result of the urban rail construction during Chen's term, the Metro overtook buses as the main transport tool for most Shanghai residents. Additionally, Mr. Chen oversaw the construction of bridges and tunnels on the Huangpu River, such as the Lupu Bridge. Opening several new arterial bridges relieved pressure from existing bridges and tunnels, thus easing traffic jams.