During Huang's term of party chief of Shanghai, he kept the city's party organization in line, and is remembered by some as having raised the income of Shanghai residents. The Pudong New Area also saw explosive growth under Huang. While Shanghai's economic growth continued during Huang Ju's time as the city's leader, most observers credit Shanghai's success to the work of Zhu Rongji and Xu Kuangdi. Among the mayors of Shanghai in the late 20th century, Huang was the least popular. During his term as Shanghai party chief, Huang often criticized mayor Xu Kuangdi, and opposed Xu's holding higher office. Because Xu was a popular figure in Shanghai, Huang's open suppression of Xu damaged his reputation among ordinary residents. In Shanghai political circles, Huang earned a reputation as being extremely adept at crafting relationships with his superiors. However, both Huang's successor Chen Liangyu and Jiang Zemin evaluated Huang's term in Shanghai with gushing praise, stating that Huang was instrumental in contributing to Shanghai's economic growth.