Guangdong native to serve as acting mayor of Shenzhen

Chen Rugui, former Party chief of Zhongshan, was appointed as deputy mayor and acting mayor of Shenzhen during a conference of the city's standing committee of the people's congress on Thursday.

Chen, born in Lianjiang in the western part of Guangdong province in 1962, will be the 13th mayor of Shenzhen and the 12th since the city was designated as China's first special economic zone, which officially kicked off the country's reform and opening-up in the late 1970s.

Chen, an engineer, will also be the first Shenzhen mayor in 27 years who was born in Guangdong. Previously, most of the mayors came from outside the province, including three from East China's Jiangsu province.

Shenzhen's mayoral office has been vacant for four months, following the transfer of Xu Qin, the former Party chief and mayor, to Hebei province. Xu is now deputy Party chief and governor of Hebei.

Wang Weizhong, former Party chief of Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi province, was appointed Shenzhen's Party chief in April.

Under Chen, Shenzhen is expected to further expand its cooperation with Hong Kong and speed up its economic integration with the special administrative region, according to insiders.

Chen is expert in economic, social and urban development and pays great attention to the construction of high-speed railways, intercity light rail, ports, highways, airports and related infrastructure projects to enhance the economic cooperation of cities in the Pearl River Delta, the insiders said.

"Chen will be able to develop his talent fully and help integrate Shenzhen with Hong Kong, Macao and other cities in the Pearl River Delta in infrastructure construction after he takes office," said Peng Peng, vice-chairman of the experts committee of South Nongovernmental Think-tank.

When Chen became the top official of Zhongshan, a prosperous city in the Pearl River Delta, in September, he urged greater cooperation between Shenzhen and Zhongshan and integration of his city into the economic development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Chen led a Zhongshan delegation to Shenzhen in February to study the experience of the city's innovation development and seek investment and cooperation with the special economic zone.

Zhongshan, hometown of Sun Yat-sen, the forerunner of China's democratic revolution, is also one of the major production bases and tourist destinations in Guangdong province.

Chen was executive vice-mayor and later deputy Party chief of Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong, before he took office as Party chief in Zhongshan.

When he worked in Guangzhou, Chen promoted economic ties between the southern metropolis and Hong Kong, along with infrastructure construction in the city.