The city's mayor said yesterday he expects the local economy to
reach 2 trillion yuan ($277 billion) by 2012.
Mayor Han Zheng said in his work report that GDP in the
financial hub grew by an estimated 12.6 percent to 1.2 trillion
yuan last year.
By 2012, GDP per capita will be more than 100,000 yuan for
Shanghai's permanent residents, he said.
The city has maintained double-digit annual GDP growth for the
past 16 years, although the target for last year was just 9
percent. This year's target is 10 percent.
In his report, Han put forward goals to help realize "sound and
rapid" economic growth in the "four centers" of international
economics, finance, trade and shipping.
"One of the key tasks in the years to 2012 is to quicken the
pace of developing an industrial structure, with the service sector
at its core, and increase its global competitiveness," Han told
deputies to the city's congress.
By 2012, Han said the service industry will be worth in excess
of 1.1 trillion yuan and account for more than 80 percent of GDP in
the city's central areas.
The service sector is estimated to have grown by 621 billion
yuan last year, to account for more than half the city's total
GDP.
Funding for research and development will be increased to 3
percent of GDP per year until 2012, Han said.
Deputies to the congress and the Chinese People's Political
Consultative Conference (CPPCC) welcomed yesterday's report, saying the
city has made remarkable progress in social and economic areas
since 2003.
Mao Zengdian, a professor at Shanghai Jiaotong University, said:
"Mayor Han did not say much about the progress the city has already
made in his report, but the achievement is really stunning."
Huge progress has been made in regard to the city's efforts to
establish itself as an international shipping center and an air
traffic hub, he said.
According to official figures, Shanghai is the world's second
largest cargo center handling more than 26 million TEUs (20-foot
equivalent units) a year.
Last year, the city's two airports handled 51.6 million
passengers, up 110 percent on 2003, and 2.9 million tons of cargo,
up 170 percent.
Zhang Jianzu, a deputy to the nation's CPPCC, said: "We have
seen outstanding progress in Shanghai and in the national
economy.
"But both the city and the country are facing pressure from
skyrocketing property prices and high inflation."
But more measures will still have to be adopted to ensure
migrant workers and people in rural areas share the fruits of
economic growth, Zhang said.
(China Daily January 25, 2008)
