Shanghai Photo: Xinhua

Shanghai aims to achieve 6 percent GDP growth in 2020, stated the city’s mayor Ying Yong in a government report released on Wednesday during Shanghai’s Two Sessions (Shanghai People's Congress and Shanghai People's Political Consultative Conference), an annual political forum, which commenced on Tuesday and will continue until January 20.

In 2019, Shanghai’s GDP grew by more than 6 percent, said Ying adding that the service industry accounted for 70 percent of the city’s total GDP, besides the creation of 589,000 new jobs. 

The data further highlights that the investment in research and development accounted for 4 percent of the city’s GDP. The number of patents approved for new inventions per 10,000 populations in the city reached 53.5.

Shanghai's industrial investment grew by about 11.3%, maintaining double-digit growth for 21 consecutive months.

The city also witnessed growth in new industries and new business models. Its new energy industry gained a 15 percent increase in the output value, and the internet business revenue recorded a 30 percent growth. An average of 1,476 new companies get registered on every working day in Shanghai.

In 2019, the Shanghai Stock Exchange launched its scientific and innovation board and a pilot registration system. 205 companies applied to list and 70 companies have successfully listed, raising 82.4 billion yuan ($11.95 billion).

Since 2018, Shanghai has been on an endeavor to establish itself as an international center of economy, financial, trade, shipping and technological innovation. 54 new licensed financial institutions have been set up in Shanghai. The financial market transactions totaled 1,933 trillion yuan, a17.5 percent increase. 

The container throughput of the ports in Shanghai has reached 43.3 million in 2019, ranking first in the world for 10 consecutive years.

China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone launched the Lingang special area in August 2019. Over 4,000 new companies have been established in the area; in addition, 168 key projects have been signed, with the total investment reaching 82.19 billion yuan.

On July 1, 2019, Shanghai’s waste sorting policy officially took effect. According to Ying, the city has set up a waste sorting and transportation system. The average amount of recyclables collected per day in Shanghai increased by 431.8 percent in 2019. The percentage of available landfills dropped from 41.4 percent to 20 percent. 

Moreover, people’s standard of living has seen continuous improvement. The per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents in Shanghai increased by 8.2 percent and 9.3 percent, respectively. The growth rate of rural residents' income was higher than that of urban residents for 8 consecutive years.

Shanghai also saw better environmental quality. The average PM2.5 index hit record-low of 35 mg per cubic meter in 2019, 2.8 percent lower than 2018; however, the frequent polluted days in winter time remain a challenge to the city, said Shanghai’s environment watchdog on Wednesday. 

The city also set an ambitious plan for 2020. According to Ying, Shanghai will establish an international financial center for the innovation, trading, pricing, and clearing of renminbi products by 2020. 

The municipal government vowed to develop financial technologies with great efforts, gather important financial institutions of all sorts and accelerate the building of a global capital management center.

Ying also announced that Shanghai will start the construction of the fourth phase of Pudong International Airport in 2020, in its quest to building an international hub port for container shipping and a hub port of aviation in the Asia-Pacific region.

In terms of housing, Shanghai will offer 60,000 government-subsidized affordable housing in 2020. 500,000 new jobs will be created and vocational training will be delivered to foster employment.

In December 2019, China issued guidelines to boost the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta region. Shanghai, as a leading economy in the region, also rolled out a plan recently to achieve this national strategy. 

Ying Yong said Shanghai will engage in joint protection and management of the ecological environment in the Yangtze River Delta region. A string of cooperative projects in transportation, energy and information sectors will be launched in the region in 2020.

Moreover, the business environment, medical care, education, elder care, rural development and city management were also included in the city’s planned tasks for 2020.

Global Times