Steady economic growth in the first half of this year gives Shanghai great confidence of a double-digit increase of gross domestic product (GDP) by the end of December.

"The achievement gained in the past six months is encouraging," said Mayor Chen Liangyu in his government work report submitted to the 11th Municipal People's Congress on Thursday.

Despite the economic fluctuation in the three months immediately following the country's entry into the World Trade Organization in December, the city still managed to increase its GDP by 10 percent to 252.33 billion yuan (US$30.4 billion) by June.

"The economic situation will be even better in the latter half of the year, as the main world economies including the United States, Europe and Japan have shown signs of warming up, which will help a lot in expanding the city's export volume," Chen said.

"The latest statistics also showed the domestic economy has recovered from its year's decline. All these provide a good environment for better economic growth in the latter half of this year."

The country's go-west campaign has also provided many opportunities to the city's industrial sector. Chen predicted that the added value of this sector will exceed 10 percent by the end of the year.

But he warned that difficulties remain. The recovery of the world economy is still stuttering as military clashes and fluctuation of international oil prices are still having negative effects.

Shanghai's relatively higher business costs, accompanied by its GDP growth per capita, is forcing many manufacturing firms to move out of the city.

"We are thinking of developing industry zones and giving them certain favorable policies to reduce business costs and attract more foreign investment," Chen said.

A main task for the following year is to speed up the city's railway construction. So far Shanghai has only 65 kilometers of railway including the metro and light rail, accounting for only 5 percent of the total ground traffic.

The city's plan is to construct 200 kilometers of new rail lines by 2005, and let the network shoulder 35 percent of the ground traffic.

The city's environment will continue to be improved, Chen added.

The goal is to turn Shanghai into one of the cleanest of all big cities in China and the focus for the remainder of this year will be improving air and water quality.

Regarding the unemployment problem, Chen encouraged all government sectors to help more laid-off workers find work. The commitment of creating 100,000 new jobs for the unemployed by the end of this year will remain.

"And the city will open up even more in following years," Chen promised.

"The government website, apart from publicizing its work, will also provide a place for local residents to voice their opinions on the work of officials. This has already been put at the top of the agenda."

(China Daily August 17, 2002)