Beijing and Shanghai yesterday set ambitious and identical economic growth targets of 9 percent annually for the next five years while pledging to improve the quality of life for their residents.

Beijing Mayor Wang Qishan said the highlights of the five-year plan are the hosting of the 2008 Olympic Games, and building a city that is "safe, convenient and comfortable".

The Games are generating a great impetus for the capital's development, Wang said while delivering a draft report on Beijing's 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10) at the annual meeting of the municipal people's congress.

The city should grasp the opportunity to build itself into a world-class tourism destination and international exhibition center, he said.

By 2010, Beijing's gross domestic product (GDP) per capita should double the 2000 figure at about US$5,400. GDP in 2005 is expected to be 660 billion yuan (US$81.45 billion), representing an annual increase of 9 percent, Wang said.

But it is not just the economy which will hog the agenda. "Harmonious development among people, resources and the environment as well economic and social progress are crucial,'" Wang said.

Some of the key features of the plan include:

? Contain the permanent population within 16 million by 2010. The figure reached 15.3 million in 2005, 1.66 million higher than five years earlier.

? Accelerate the shift of economic structure and growth modes with the development of high-end industries. For example, modern tertiary industries are set to account for 72 percent of overall industrial output.

? Eliminate monopolies and draft preferential policies for cultural industries.

In Shanghai, Mayor Han Zheng set a target of 9 percent annual growth for GDP to reach 1.5 trillion yuan (US$185 billion) in 2010, up 40 percent from 2005.

Speaking to the municipal people's congress, he said the economic powerhouse would complete the infrastructure building for it to be a global economic, financial, trade and shipping center in the next five years.

"Through these ambitious goals, both the city's international competitiveness and residents' living standards will be improved," he added.

His vision matches the city's theme for its 2010 World Expo, "Better City, Better Life".

Among the key features of the Shanghai work plan are:

? Increase spending on research and development to 2.8 percent of GDP. The figure in 2005 was about 2.3 percent.

? Raise contribution of the high-tech industry from 58 percent to 65 percent of industrial output.

? Spend no less than 3 percent of GDP on the environment; and power consumption per unit of GDP to fall by 20 percent from the 2005 level. Green coverage to reach 38 percent, one percentage point higher than now.

? Maintain the registered unemployment rate at 4.5 percent.

? Reconstruct 4 million square meters of dilapidated and old residential housing.

? Increase subway coverage from the present 153 kilometers to 400 kilometers.

Further, expansion on the two international airports, one each in Beijing and Shanghai, will start this year. The refurbished airports should double the cities' annual passenger volume capacity to more than 80 million.

(China Daily January 16, 2006)