Rigidity may cost Heilongjiang party secretary promotion into Politburo

The recent collapse of an approach ramp on a new, 1.8 billion yuan bridge in Harbin , Heilongjiang , could be the final blow to provincial party secretary Ji Bingxuan's hopes of promotion to the Communist Party's Politburo.

Ji , 61, has never been particularly popular to begin with, and the widespread criticism of shoddy construction standards caused his popularity to dip even further ahead of the party's 18th national congress.

A former editor of a major Shanghai newspaper said Ji was known for his "rigidity" in his previous role as censor-in-chief and was not well liked by his staff.

A veteran Hong Kong-based journalist described him as "a very careful person" who would "deliberately avoid discussing sensitive topics".

"He never touched on any political or economic topics," he said. "Throughout the entire dinner, he only talked about tourism, dining … He is a very cautious person when it comes to allowing any question-and-answer opportunities to journalists."

Ji is best known for leading a ruthless, iron-fisted crackdown on press freedom when he served as executive deputy director of the party's publicity department from 2001 to 2008. But although he made many enemies among prominent mainland journalists, his strong ties in Beijing have seen some overseas media depict him as a rising star.