New tech, industries, business drive Shanghai growth

New technologies, industries, and types of business have become a new and significant driving force for Shanghai's continual economic growth, according to a report published by the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (SASS) on Tuesday.

Internet-related social service sectors developed rapidly last year, according to the Annual Report on Economic Development of Shanghai 2018.

Service sectors related to software and information technology grew by nearly 20 percent in the first three-quarters in 2017 year on year, far surpassing that of the municipality's GDP and the tertiary industry, the report said.

New types of business, with non-store retailing as a representative, saw fast growth as well, according to the report. The retail sales of non-store retailing in the first three-quarters of last year reached more than 146 billion yuan ($23 billion) last year, an increase of more than 15 percent year-on-year.

Statistics from the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce showed that the amount of online commodity transactions from January to May last year grew by 22 percent compared to the same period the previous year, while the amount of online service transactions increased by nearly 36 percent.

"Traditional fields, such as tourism, public transportation, culture, sports, health and products and service for the elderly, have seen new growth opportunities in the country's 'Internet Plus' era," reads the SASS report.

The report projects Shanghai's GDP growth this year at 6.9 percent.