Shanghai is predicting double-digit GDP growth for 2003 despite the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) crisis, according to an official.
Shanghai, the biggest industrial city in China, will see year-on-year GDP growth of 11.9 percent for the first four months of the year, said Zhu Zhaosong, deputy director of the Shanghai Development Planning Commission at a news conference held Wednesday.
Shanghai is expected to generate 84.5 billion yuan (US$10.2 billion) in added industrial value during the period, up 18 percent over the same period last year, and the growth rate for the tertiary sector is forecasted at 7.3 percent.
Investment in fixed assets will grow by 19.4 percent year-on-year in the first four months, while foreign trade volume jumped 47.9 percent year-on-year, reaching 4 billion US dollars in April.
The total contractual volume of foreign capital spending is expected to be 4.31 billion US dollars, with real spending at 2.03billion, respective year-on-year increases of 51.3 and 41.9 percent.
Retail sales volume in Shanghai rose 8.4 percent in April, but the negative impact of SARS on internal consumption became evident during the last ten days of the month.
The tourist, communications, entertainment, retail and catering industries have all been severely affected by SARS, and the municipality is taking measures to provide support to these sectors, the official said.
(Xinhua News Agency May 11, 2003)
