Mayor of Shenzhen in corruption probe

• Source: The Global Times
• [07:23 June 09 2009]
• Comments

During his term as a mayor, Xu was known for advocating “a forceful government.” When the economic crisis brought Shenzhen’s housing market down, he said the government would not step in to “rescue” the market, according to the China Business Journal, which also said he required local officials to go through auditing, and fired those who failed the inspection.

He was also known as a “subway mayor,” after he pushed for the construction of five subway lines and a number of highways in Shenzhen.

Wang Sixin, a law professor from the Communication University of China, said the action against Xu is a sign of the central government’s determination to fight corruption.

“If we don’t take a firm stance against those who trade their political power for cash, our country and Party will be in danger of failure,” he told the Global Times yesterday.

He Jie, a resident of Shenzhen, told the Global Times it was hard to evaluate whether a person was good or bad, but said Xu was a hard-working mayor.

“The action he led in 2005 to punish unlicensed businesses presented a good image of government to the Shenzhen people,” he said.

An anonymous Web user said that he blamed Xu for the city’s economic slowdown and a fatal accident.

“The economy in Shenzhen has stagnated and the Longgang fire that left 44 dead last year reflected his dereliction of duty, so he should take responsibility,” he said on tieba.baidu. com.