[citation needed] After working in Fujian reconstruction for several years, Peng served briefly in the party’s East China Bureau in 1954, and then was named Mayor and CCP Deputy Secretary of Nanjing, in the summer of 1955.
[3]: 73–76 His response to the Great Leap Forward was similar: in March 1958, Mao Zedong singled out Nanjing and Tianjin as laggards, after which Peng modestly increased his official enthusiasm.
In 1960, Peng moved into provincial-level work full-time and relinquished his position as head of the Nanjing party apparatus, a promotion that enabled him to visit the USSR in 1962.
[citation needed] The Jiangsu provincial leadership was broadly targeted for "struggle" in the Cultural Revolution, and responded with the typical effort to control the Red Guard, battle radicals with outside workers, and inevitably, violence.
Xu Shiyou’s 1974 transfer to Guangzhou opened up space for Peng Chong to become 1st CCP Secretary and Chairman of the Jiangsu Revolutionary Committee.
Peng, General Su Zhenhua and labor politico Ni Zhifu were sent to Shanghai to take power from the radical left, while long-time ally Xu Jiatun remained behind as Jiangsu secretary.
Peng added a National People's Congress (NPC) Vice Chairmanship to his titles (1978–87), and was formally named Shanghai 1st Secretary in early 1979, due to Su Zhenhua’s death, and mayor at the end of the year.