City blueprint aims economy, social equity

Shanghai plans to nearly double its per capita of gross domestic product and continue its road toward becoming a world financial center over the next five years, Mayor Han Zheng said yesterday.

At the same time, the city will focus on improving the overall lives of the populace. Key elements of the five-year plan include continuance of opening-up policies, the development of the services industry, better environmental policies and more aid to the needy, Han said.

Mayor Han Zheng delivers his government report at the opening session of the 13th Shanghai People's Congress January 24, 2008.[Expo2010.cn]

The government itself will improve its transparency and streamline its supervision system.

"The next five years will be a key stage in Shanghai's 'leapfrog' development,'' Han said in a government report addressing the first session of the 13th Shanghai People's Congress.

The 44-page report reviewed the city's achievements over the past five years and outlined the government blueprint for the next five.

SPC is the city's top legislative body and its 800-plus deputies hold a plenary session every year to discuss key government policies and social-development issues.

Han told the deputies that Shanghai expects its GDP volume to reach 2,000 billion yuan (US$276.97 billion) by 2012. Also by that time, per capita GDP is forecast to reach 100,000 yuan - nearly twice as much as the present level.

In 2007, the city's GDP is estimated to reach 1,200 billion yuan, more than doubling the 2002 figure.

He highlighted the importance of promoting the services industry, such as legal services, business advisory, finance, stock and banking, as a focal point of the economy.

By 2012, the service industry is forecast to account for 80 percent of overall economic output in downtown Shanghai.

The figure for 2007 is expected to be 51.7 percent for the whole city.

Key service industries to see significant growth also include the exhibition industry, tourism, community services, accounting, design and various advisory businesses.

Han said the city will continue to expand the market for financial products such as stocks, gold, futures, foreign exchange and insurance over the next five years.

He also reinforced the city's ambition of being an international shipping and trade center by 2020.

Turning to the environment, Han vowed that the city will enhance its embrace of energy-efficient industries and enact stricter environmental policies. "Economical and efficient use of resources will top the government agenda.''

He said the city will create a sewerage-treatment system capable of covering more than 85 percent of overall sewage, a 13 per cent increase on the present level.

The government will also take firmer measures to control industrial and transport emissions so that air quality maintains a good level at more than 85 percent of the time in a year. A batch of ecological conservation projects is set to be launched.

In transport, the city has vowed to build a Metro network of 500 kilometers, 400 kilometers of bus-only traffic lanes and 100 public-transport hubs by 2012.

The government also plans to concentrate on the improvement of housing, employment, social security and compulsory education.

A housing-benefit system for medium-to-low-income families will be set up and the government will relax eligibility criteria.

To help those who fail to qualify for the low-rental program, the city government will increase construction of affordable units, whose floor area will be 20 percent of total new housing.