Wang Yang, the party chief who transformed Guangdong

"Empty the cage and let the right birds in" was Wang Yang's main economic prescription when he became Guangdong's Communist Party chief in December 2007.

Calling for a switch from labour-intensive and polluting industries such as toys, textiles and plastics manufacturing, Wang argued that a healthier economic structure, featuring cleaner and higher-value industries, was the only way out for the southern export-hub. The global financial meltdown in 2008 and the European debt crisis that followed only reinforced that view.

Wang's courage to break away from a model that had delivered three decades of double-digit growth in the province's gross domestic product won him a reputation as a liberal reformer and made him stand out among the traditionally GDP-obsessed provincial governors.

His advocacy of free-market reform in Guangdong also contrasted strongly with former Chongqing party chief Bo Xilai's fervent championing of an economic model that largely relied on state-owned firms and government to spur growth.

With Wang's five years in Guangdong nearing an end, his cage-and-bird theory has become a catchphrase that has spread to other coastal provinces such as Zhejiang and Jiangsu , which have also relied heavily on export manufacturing. Analysts said it was also likely to be remembered as a manifestation of President Hu Jintao's "scientific concept of development" - a key legacy of his 10-year reign.

The provincial party mouthpiece Nanfang Daily has hailed Wang's success in turning the province into an international base for high-end manufacturing and services, with factories producing trains, cars, LCD screens and other hi-tech products. At the same time, it said, the province has also boosted its heavy industry sector with new steel and petrochemical projects.