Chongqing vows to alleviate effects of Bo scandal

Chongqing's municipal government has pledged to shake off the impact of the Bo Xilai scandal and emphasize the rule of law, according to a report delivered at the ongoing session of the local people's congress.

The government will speed up efforts to build an administration that will improve services for the general public and enterprises, and the rule of law will be fully implemented, said Huang Qifan, mayor of the southwestern municipality, in a report to the annual session of the Municipal People's Congress on Saturday.

Huang added that the government will reject vanity projects that lead to unnecessary spending and said that no person or organization in the administration will be above the law.

He said the government has tried to banish the disturbing effects that the cases of Bo Xilai, Chongqing's former Party chief, and Wang Lijun, the former deputy mayor and police chief, had on the municipality's development last year.

"The year 2012 was extraordinary in the development of Chongqing. We resolutely followed the decisions of the Party against an exceptional backdrop and complex circumstances".

He added that the government had "managed to maintain a generally stable situation and had achieved healthy social and economic development".

Bo Xilai was sacked in March and his case has been handed over to the judicial authorities who will examine alleged legal violations, according to reports from Xinhua News Agency.

Bo's wife, Bogu Kailai, was convicted of the murder of a British citizen, Neil Heywood. She received a death sentence with a two-year reprieve, at a court in Hefei, Anhui province, in August.

Wang Lijun entered the United States consulate in Chengdu without permission in February 2012. He was later sentenced to 15 years in prison after a court in Chengdu, Sichuan province, found him guilty of bending the law for selfish ends, defection, abuse of power, and accepting bribes.

Meanwhile, the municipality registered economic growth of 13.6 percent last year. Urban incomes rose by 13.4 percent year-on-year, while rural incomes increased by 13.9 percent.

Huang said the municipal government is targeting GDP growth of 12 percent year-on- year and a 150,000 increase in the number of local businesses.

"The government still has a long way to go in building a services-oriented administration. The lack of service awareness is evident in some government departments and among civil servants. Poor efficiency at work, being out of touch with the public and corruption still exist," he said.

Huang's report also set out a roadmap for the municipality during the next five years.

The municipality has set a target for total import and export volume to reach 100 billion yuan ($16 billion) in 2017.

"The plan and the target set by the report are encouraging. The key is how we can implement the plan and realize the targets," said Qu Lunming, a deputy to the Municipal People's Congress, who is also an official on the transport committee in the municipality's Fuling district.