The People's Daily has heaped lavish praise on Shanghai's steady development under the city's party boss, Yu Zhengsheng - praise that political analysts see as a boost for the princeling's chances of being promoted in the autumn leadership shake-up.
The front-page splash of the Communist Party mouthpiece yesterday - an obvious endorsement of Yu's political achievements in the mainland's financial hub since he took over the post from predecessor Xi Jinping shortly after the last National Party Congress five years ago - comes at a sensitive time.
Key questions remain unanswered surrounding last month's sacking of Chongqing party boss Bo Xilai, which has unleashed a political tsunami on the mainland, including Beijing's final say on the so-called Chongqing model - Bo's controversial theory of development advocating a redistribution of wealth and social justice.
Bo's removal has widely been seen as a major setback for conservative leftists, whose comeback in recent years was widely viewed as a threat to Beijing's reform and opening up.
Although the 7,100-word article, headlined 'Shanghai strives for success in transformation and development', made no mention of the now notorious Chongqing model, reminiscent of the Maoist era, analysts noted that Shanghai and Yu were praised primarily for sticking to the policies of the top leadership.
'Shanghai, which has always been at the forefront of reform and opening up, has yet again held aloft the banners of deepening reform and opening its doors wider to the outside world,' the piece said.
Yu was also cited in the story as promising that Shanghai would take the lead nationally to transform its economy, which features high energy consumption, heavy pollution and an overreliance on investment, housing and labour-intensive sectors. 'This is the hope of the party central and the most essential task for Shanghai,' he said.