Shanghai yesterday set a target of 10 per cent annual economic growth for next year, slowing from a forecast 11 per cent for this year, but leaders urged the city to boost its ability to compete for investment.
City leaders forecast average gross domestic product (GDP) growth of at least 9 per cent for the next five years. If the city's economic growth slows to below 10 per cent, it would mark the end of more than a decade of double-digit increases.
Shanghai's GDP growth was 13.6 per cent last year, the 13th year of double-digit growth and the highest since 1996.
But city leaders told a just-ended Communist Party meeting that the city needed to put more emphasis on domestic consumption - instead of exports and state spending - and seek more sustainable growth by conserving resources. The calls echo policies already set by the central government.
No leadership changes were announced by state media following the meeting. In evening television news broadcasts, Party Secretary Chen Liangyu and Mayor Han Zheng , who is also a deputy party secretary, were referred to by their original titles. Rumours had circulated of pending changes in the leadership.
The party meeting comes ahead of the annual session of Shanghai's legislature, which is likely to be held next month. In speeches, the party secretary and mayor stuck to familiar policies for next year and the coming five years, including building Shanghai into an international city.
