Zhang Dejiang, interim party chief of Chongqing Municipality, reads his statement during a meeting held on the sidelines of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing November 8, 2012.
As expected from a man who studied economics at Kim Il Sung University in North Korea, Zhang, 66, is considered a hardliner with deep affection for China’s often inefficient state enterprises. The political prospects of the son of a former PLA major general brightened earlier this year when he was tapped to replace disgraced politician Bo Xilai as party chief of Chongqing, the sprawling megalopolis in Western China. In a prior incarnation, Zhang presided over Guangdong province when the southern region was grappling with a deadly outbreak of the SARS virus. His response? Gagging the media and hiding the extent of the health scare.