Shanghai sees steady first-half growth

Faced with a number of economic uncertainties, especially those in international trade relations, Shanghai still managed to see steady growth in the first half of this year, steering toward economic restructuring and upgrading as the municipal government has planned.

According to data provided by the municipal statistics bureau, Shanghai's GDP value was more than 1.56 trillion yuan ($233 billion) in the first half of this year, up 6.9 percent year-on-year. China's GDP growth rate was 6.8 percent in the first six months, according to information released on Monday by the National Bureau of Statistics.

The tertiary sector in Shanghai showed the most robust growth of 7.4 percent year-on-year in the first half, with added value of around 1.08 trillion yuan. The tertiary sector accounted for 69.2 percent of Shanghai's total GDP in the past six months.

Tang Huihao, deputy director of the municipal statistics bureau, explained at a news conference on Tuesday that Shanghai's slightly faster growth pace than the national level can be largely attributed to the rapid development of the new economy represented by internet companies, as well as transportation and the delivery industry.

The official statistics show that online retail turnover jumped 13.3 percent year-on-year to reach 70.2 billion yuan in the first half, accounting for 11.4 percent of the total retail income that the city made during the same period. Meanwhile, the added value of transportation, delivery, warehousing and postal services reached 75.9 billion yuan, up 14.3 percent year-on-year.

Meanwhile, industrial companies in Shanghai demonstrated better production quality and higher efficiency in the first half, said Tang. The total output contributed by local industrial companies whose average annual turnover was 20 million yuan and above reached 1.7 trillion yuan in the first half, up 5.2 percent year-on-year.

Strategic emerging industrial companies saw their total income reach 506.3 billion yuan, up 8.1 percent from a year earlier. Among these, the output of alternative fuel vehicles surged 29.6 percent, biomedicine jumped 15 percent, and new generation information technology rose 14.2 percent.

More importantly, industrial investment in Shanghai hit a 10-year high of 46.6 billion yuan in the first half, up 22.9 percent year-on-year. Tang said this was the result of the city's focus on the real economy, which can be proved by the development of the high-end integrated circuit industry and commercial passenger aircraft.