Chongqing's Party chief stresses poverty alleviation, development

BEIJING, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Chongqing will focus on development and poverty alleviation in building a moderately well-off society in all aspects, the municipality's Party chief Sun Zhengcai said on Wednesday.

Sun, secretary of Chongqing's municipal committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), said the municipality in southwest China still faces tremendous challenges as its rural-urban gap remains huge.

Chongqing has a population of more than 33 million, many of whom are farmers living outside the urban center.

It attained provincial status in 1997 because of the massive relocation caused by the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydropower project. Despite rapid growth since then, per capita personal income in Chongqing ranks only around the 20th among 31 provincial regions.

"In fact Chongqing is still an underdeveloped region," Sun said in Beijing during a panel discussion at the ongoing annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature.

Chongqing will have to implement poverty alleviation programs in order to accomplish its goal of building a moderately well-off society in all respects by 2017, said Sun, also an NPC deputy.

Nevertheless the municipality's Party chief, appointed in November after a landmark national congress of the CPC, said he was confident in the city's development potential.

He said Chongqing now enjoys a stable political and social environment and a sustainable growth of economy and investment.

"It is important for Chongqing to keep high conformity with the CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping as the general secretary, both in ideology and actions," Sun said.

He also pledged to seriously combat corruption and crimes in order to promote good governance.

On a recent sex video scandal in which some Chongqing officials were involved, Sun said Chongqing had handled the scandal in strict accordance with the law.

Since November, 11 county- and district-level officials have been removed from their posts for alleged involvement in the scandal.