Shanghai defies forecast of economic slowdown
Shanghai's economic growth roared ahead at an annual rate of 12.7 per cent in the first four months of the year, despite an official forecast for a slowdown.
The city's gross domestic product grew by 11.1 per cent last year and Shanghai officials had already admitted growth exceeded 12 per cent year on year in the first quarter of this year.
In January, Mayor Han Zheng forecast GDP growth of at least 10 per cent this year, a target widely heralded as a slowdown amid a central government push to improve the quality of growth. Mr Han gave the latest figure in a meeting with the mayor of Rotterdam, Ivo Opstelten, the Liberation Daily reported. It gave no other details.
Shanghai officials have dismissed worries of economic overheating and the possibility of a bubble in the city's property market.
Based on figures recently released by the Shanghai Bureau of Statistics, export growth has narrowly exceeded last year's pace. Shanghai's exports reached US$35 billion in the first four months of the year, up 24.1 per cent, surpassing last year's 23.4 per cent rise.
