Shanghai all smiles after Hu pays visit
Shanghai officials received what is seen as a boost on Monday, with a rare visit by President Hu Jintao to their panel discussion.
During a session opened to the media yesterday, Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng remarked several times that President Hu had supported the city's development during the Monday meeting.
It is an NPC tradition that on the first full-day meeting of the NPC session, members of the Communist Party Politburo Standing Committee visit the provincial delegations they are associated with.
Vice-Premier Huang Ju, a Politburo Standing Committee member, was Shanghai party secretary before being promoted to the central leadership, but is missing the congress due to illness.
An anecdote reported by the China News Service hinted at the rarity of Mr Hu's visit to the Shanghai delegation.
Peng Zhenqiu, a Shanghai NPC delegate, asked Mr Hu to come more often. 'As a deputy I had hoped you could have visited the Shanghai delegation more in the past,' he said.
Mr Hu replied: 'So are you criticising me for never coming?'
