China: Two Economic Models and the Ideological Divide in Chongqing

The new Party secretary for China's Chongqing municipality, Zhang Dejiang, has called on Chongqing to develop a more robust private sector using the "Zhejiang Experience," an economic model used in Zhejiang province, where Zhang previously served as Party secretary. Zhang's statement comes as Chongqing works to secure continued foreign and private investment in the wake of the March 15 ouster of its former Party secretary, Bo Xilai.

Zhang's statement may represent a departure from Bo's "Chongqing model," which utilized state-led investment to stimulate the economy and improve social welfare and served as a potential model for China's inland development. Given Chongqing's recent exemplification of leftist economic and political policies, abandoning the Chongqing model could signal Beijing's determination to put the country on a different economic path.