Zhang Jun/Shanghai Daily
news
Mayor Han Zheng delivers a draft of the
city's 11th Five-Year Plan at the session, which began yesterday at the Shanghai
Exhibition Center. A final vote on the development blueprint is expected on
Friday. ¡ª Wang Rongjiang
Shanghai is targeting an annual economic growth rate of at least 9 percent
over the next five years as it hones its competitive edge as an international
metropolis, Mayor Han Zheng said yesterday as he delivered a draft of the city's
11th Five-Year Plan to more than 800 members of the Shanghai People's
Congress.
Han also estimated that the city's gross domestic product will
increase by more than 10 percent this year and the energy used to generate each
10,000 yuan (US$1,234) in GDP should be reduced by around 4.4 percent compared
with last year's level.
"For the next five years, we will focus on improving
the city's international competitiveness," Han told Congress members at the
Shanghai Exhibition Center yesterday.
The shanghai People's Congress, the
city's top legislative body, holds a plenary session each year to discuss and
vote on the city's key economic and social development plans.
A final vote is
expected on Friday.
The mayor said Shanghai plans to complete the framework
that will enable it to become one of the world's leading economic, financial,
trade and shipping centers by the end of 2010.
He said the city government
will put the service sector at the top of its development agenda and boost
financial markets including reinsurance, offshore services, corporate bonds and
derivatives.
Among its plans to foster a modern logistics industry, the
government intends to increase international transshipments by upgrading its
infrastructure.
The five-year blueprint calls for rapid improvement at key
logistic bases, including Lingang New City, Pudong International Airport and the
Northwest Integrated Logistics Park.
Under the plan, by the end of 2010 the
city's financial assets will account for 10 percent of the national total, up 1
percentage point from 2004. And international transshipment volume will
represent 10 percent of the city's container business - more than twice the
current figure.
In the energy resource and environmental protection sector,
the city's total energy consumption per unit of GDP will be reduced 20 percent
from last year's level.
Investment in environmental protection will exceed 3
percent of GDP - about the same as last year.
The government also plans to
solidify 12 major modern service industry hubs around over the next five years.
Among them: the shipping service area in the north Bund, the science and
technology-based business zone in the Wujiaochang area, the ecology-based
business zone near Changfeng Park and the foreign-related business zone in
Hongqiao.
The day before the opening of the legislative meeting, the Shanghai
Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference began its
annual session.
The local committee of the CPPCC is the city's top advisory
body, whose members include members of democratic parties, scientists, doctors,
artists and business representatives.
The cppcc is authorized to review and
analyze government actions and offer suggestions to the city's
leadership.