Mayor and Party Chief of Shanghai
Along with Mayor Han Zheng, Chen continued the CPC's reformation, and during his leadership Shanghai was selected as the host city for Expo 2010. Chen was officially credited with dramatically increasing the size and efficiency of Shanghai's public transportation. Shanghai's rising real estate prices have plagued the city since 2002, and rose over 200% during Chen's term in office as the city's Party Chief, as ordinary Shanghai citizens found it increasingly difficult to find a place to live. The real estate network had a history of being monopolized. The government had attempted to assert control, but because of the inevitable link between the government and private businesses, many deals were cut in which Chen was implicated. Chen also held major interests in the Shanghai Shenhua football squad, attending all of their home matches and even supervising some practices.
His image in the city during his tenure as Mayor was divisive. He initiated a series of gigantic projects to be finished in time for Shanghai's hosting of the 2010 World Exposition, including shipping 128,000 tons of sand to create a beach in Shanghai's suburbs, building a $209 million world-class tennis complex and a $300 million Formula One circuit racetrack. His most controversial project was the proposed Shanghai-Hangzhou mag-lev train. Opponents of Chen painted him as corrupt, short tempered, and despotic during Municipal Committee meetings which he chaired. Supporters of Chen credited him with openness, and saw him as a progressive leader crucial to Shanghai's economic and social development on the international scene. Other observers saw Chen as an effective local administrator in Shanghai, but an impediment to nationwide equalization and macroeconomic controls (otherwise known as Hongguan Tiaokong).
During his term, Chen sold massive amounts of land to his brother who resold the land for more than tenfold, becoming Shanghai's real estate magnate.
Chen's son, Chen Weili, was made an executive of the Shanghai Shenhua football club shortly after graduating from university.
Read more about this topic: Chen Liangyu
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