When the Shanghai party chief wrote back to the relative of a cancer patient via online microblog this week it was seen as the latest example of Communist Party officials using social media to garner support, boost popularity and polish their image.
On Monday, secondary school teacher Qin Ling posted on his microblog an article titled: 'An open letter to Shanghai Party Secretary Yu Zhengsheng from the relative of a terminal cancer patient.' The article, about Qin's struggle in seeking medical treatment for his father, was widely circulated online.
But Qin 'never expected' that Yu would reply two days later through the Shanghai municipal government's official microblog account, the Jiefang Daily reported.
'Everyone has parents and everyone has relatives,' Yu wrote.
'The pain of a person, seeing that a relative who raised him is suffering from a serious illness, but being unable to help, and seeing that relative being hurt by our system's shortcomings, is self-evident.'
He added that 'all of us will try to help you', and that they would try to change the medical system, without giving further details.
Qin's father was diagnosed with lung cancer at the end of last year, and over the past two months several hospitals have refused to treat him because of his terminal status and because they said they were already at full capacity.