City outlines key targets for 2016
Print Edition
SHANGHAI has set a target to achieve economic growth of between 6.5 and 7 percent this year, which is the first in the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20), Mayor Yang Xiong said yesterday at the annual session of the Shanghai People’s Congress.
“The city will embrace the concepts of innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development, and adapt to the ‘new normal’ of economic growth,” the mayor said while delivering the government’s annual work report.
“We will continue the process of reform and opening up,” he told more than 870 lawmakers.
“The city will focus on steady growth, structural readjustment and the well-being of its people by advancing supply-side reforms and pressing ahead with innovation-driven development,” he said.
“Economic restructuring will be accelerated with a view to achieving sustainable social and economic development, while laying a solid foundation for accomplishing the development goals of the 13th Five-Year Plan,” the mayor said.
GDP growth in 2016 should be “in line with last year,” when it grew 6.9 percent, he said.
Spending on research and development should remain above 3.5 percent of GDP, while the urban registered unemployment rate should be no higher than 4.4 percent, Yang said.
People’s incomes will keep pace with economic growth, while inflation will be in line with the price control targets, he said.
Investment in environmental protection will stay at about 3 percent of the city’s economic output, while energy intensity and pollution-causing emissions will continue to be cut.
Shanghai’s economic output rose to 2.49 trillion yuan (US$378.4 billion) last year, of which the service sector contributed almost 68 percent, Yang said.
The consumer price index for the year was 2.4 percent, while the energy intensity of economic output was cut by about 4 percent.
A total of 597,000 new jobs were created in 2015, while the urban registered unemployment rate was 4.1 percent.
“Shanghai has seen steady social and economic progress with more positive signs of innovation-driven development,” Yang said.
“The economic structure has been improved and a service-led growth model has basically taken shape,” he said.
The expansion of the Pilot Free Trade Zone, and the ongoing development of the city as a center for innovation in science and technology will be the top priorities for the work agenda this year, the mayor said.
The authorities will release new versions of the negative list and more administrative agencies will be added to the “single window” platform for international trade, he said.
Meanwhile, the pilot programs for the yuan’s convertibility under the capital account will be advanced, while the government will continue to protect the rights and interests of investors and intellectual property holders, Yang said.
The government plans to build a national science center in Zhangjiang in the Pudong New Area, and introduce an innovation-oriented evaluation mechanism in state-owned enterprises, he said, adding that multinational companies will be encouraged to upgrade their research and development centers from local to global.
There will also be increased support for the financial sector, while relevant authorities will explore new investment and financing models in banking and insurance, he said.
The city’s fiber-optic broadband network will be extended this year, providing 200,000 wireless access points, the mayor said.
To help businesses to lower operating costs, Shanghai will further expand its pilot programs for VAT reform, and reduce or waive administrative fees levied on small and micro companies.
All of the targets and proposals are designed to lay the groundwork for Shanghai to achieve annual economic growth of at least 6.5 percent for the duration of the 13th Five-Year Plan period, while also lifting living standards and improving people’s quality of life, Yang said.
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