Because of their relatively short tenure in one position before promotion (less than three years, on average, for local mayors), Chinese officials are under enormous pressure to demonstrate their ability to produce economic results quickly. One sure way of doing so is to use financial leverage, typically by selling land or using land as collateral to borrow large sums of money from often-obliging state-owned banks, to finance massive infrastructure projects, as Bo did in Chongqing.
由于在升迁之前只会在当地执政一段相对较短的时间（各城市市长平均不超过3年），中国官员承受着极大的压力，必须在短时间内展现出自己取得经济成效的能力。对此一个屡试不爽的手段就是利用金融杠杆，一般通过出售土地或者以土地作为抵押品来从“乐善好施”的国有银行处搞到大笔贷款，以此资助大规模基础设施项目，正如薄熙来在重庆的所作所为。