Tang Dengjie, chairman of the Shanghai Economic Commission, said the goal was set Monday at the Shanghai Municipal Industry Work Conference, along with a desire to reach a total industrial profit of 50 billion yuan (US$6 billion) for the year.

Shanghai witnessed a combined industrial output value of 546.96 billion yuan (US$66.13 billion) in the first nine months of the year, a year-on-year increase of 11.9 per cent, according to statistics released yesterday during the commission's conference.

The city's industrial profits reached 32.74 billion yuan (US$3.96 billion) in the first eight months of 2002, an increase of 7.5 per cent over the same period last year.

At the conference, Vice-Mayor Jiang Yiren said the city's industrial sector was developing with good momentum and urged local businesses to make continued efforts to achieve the 13 per cent GDP goal.

Local officials also expressed confidence in achieving double digital economic growth for the year and "hopefully in the next consecutive years."

Jiang used the opportunity to release an overall industrial restructuring strategy for the country's economically developed Yangtze-River Delta, which is being led by Shanghai.

He said the city would continue its efforts to emphasize service sectors and high-tech industries, as well as large industrial projects covering the chemistry, auto-making, steel and ship-making sectors.

Those at the conference were told that the manufacturing bases of labour-intensive products, including some light industrial sectors, would be relocated to the neighbouring Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces to raise competitiveness.

"Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang will join forces to further clarify the industrial arrangement around the Yangtze River Delta to achieve long-term industrial development," Jiang said.

(China Daily October 15, 2002)