In 2006 the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Guangzhou in south
China's Guangdong Province grew 14.4 percent to make it the first
mainland city to generate a per capita GDP greater than
US$10,000.
China Business News has published an interview with Peng Peng,
an official at the Guangzhou branch of Chinese Academy of Social
Sciences. He said the city's GDP grew to 623.6 billion yuan in
2006, up from over 545 billion in 2005. The city has 7.0266 million
permanent residents so the per-capita GDP now actually exceeds
US$11,000.
Peng said per-capita GDP was generally considered a more
reliable measure of economic development than GDP alone. The World
Bank considers regions with a per capita GDP greater than US$10,000
to be developed.
But Peng also said the figure wasn't a completely accurate
indication of economic development because it only accounts for
residents with permanent homes. The city plans to lift the per
capita GDP for all of the city's residents to more than US$10,000
by 2010.
Per capita GDP in Hong Kong and Taiwan surpassed US$10,000 in
1987 and 1992. The International Monetary Fund's GDP rankings for
2005 show 45 countries and regions have a per-capita GDP greater
than US$10,000 dollars. Hong Kong and Taiwan ranked 23rd and 37th
at $24,581 and $13,926 respectively. The mainland ranked 106th with
US$1,703.
Guangzhou surpassed Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen in 2005 when
its per capita GDP was US$8,500 compared to US$5457, $7600 and
$7300 respectively in the other cities.
In a report released at the just-concluded party conference
officials said the city would maintain the per capita GDP above
$10,000 until 2010. They'll also focus on improving the quality of
economic growth instead of the previous growth-above-all
policy.?
An insider from the local government revealed the city will
focus on economic restructuring. It will introduce further reforms
and work to alter the current model of growth to ease environmental
pressures.
(CRI January 4, 2007)