The fast growth is expected as a direct result of the city's double-digit economic growth in the next decade.

He Qinghua, an official with the Shanghai Municipal Development Planning Commission, said: "According to our general estimation, Shanghai's per capita GDP will surpass US$10,000 by 2010."

This backs up Shanghai Mayor Chen Liangyu's prediction, made on November 3, at the 14th International Business Leaders' Advisory Council For the Mayor of Shanghai, that the city's per capita GDP will reach US$7,500 by 2007.

According to international standards, a country or region with a per capita GDP of US$8,000 to US$10,000 can be considered as "relatively rich."

Shanghai's per capita GDP is expected to reach US$5,000 this year, according to its set growth rate.

The city will "possibly" become "the first city on the Chinese mainland" to reach such a level in 2010, said another commission official, who declined to be named.

He, who works at the development planning department under the commission, also revealed that, next March, the city government will release a detailed development blueprint for the following eight years, echoing the city's successful bid to host the 2010 World Expo.

According to He, next March's blueprint will be a revised version based on a previous one released in the late 1990s.

The previous version became dated as the situation in Shanghai was "better than we had expected," said He.

According to the commission, Shanghai is aiming for an annual economic growth rate of 9 to 11 per cent during the 10th Five-Year Plan (2001-05).

Shanghai's economy will "at least" maintain this growth rate in the period up to 2010, said He, adding that the city has achieved 10 consecutive years of double-digit economic growth.

As well as preparing for the World Expo, the eastern port city is also aiming to build itself into an international economic, finance, trade and shipping center by 2010.

The 16th Party Congress noted that China will develop into an "overall relatively well-off (xiaokang) society" by 2020.

However, Shanghai needs to take the lead to become "all-round xiaokang society" and set an example for the country's modernization drive, said Zhu Dajian from the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

To ensure that the World Expo is a success, and to become a world-level modern metropolis, Shanghai needs to further accelerate its social development and environmental protection.

Economic, social and environmental factors are the three main aspects for evaluating a city's development, according to Zhu.

"According to Shanghai's current situation, the environment is, relatively, its weakest aspect," said Zhu.

The city government is well aware of the problem, and has set out the ambitious aim of building Shanghai into a "garden city."

(China Daily December 26, 2002)