Shanghai economy still increases
According to Shanghai municipal statistics bureau, the city’s GDP grew 10.3 percent to 653.07 billion yuan in the first half of 2008, a whisker below the national growth rate of 10.4 percent in the same period, though the stock and property markets are depressed,
Cai Xuchu, the bureau’s chief economist and spokesman, said that the downturn of activities in the property sector weighed down the GDP growth rate by 0.4 percent while the bearish securities market did not made any contributions to economic growth. In contrast, the two sectors contributed 19 percent to the city’s growth in the first six months of 2007.
According to Cai Xuchu, Shanghai’s housing sales slid 18.5 percent in the first half and the sales slid reach 12.28 million sq m, 10.7 million sq m in this were newly built residential apartments.
Cai said that the Shanghai economy is more easily affected by global economic conditions because of its openness. That’s why Shanghai’s GDP growth lagged behind the nationwide level for the second time. The first time this happened in 1992.
He pointed that the elimination of outdated production facilities also gave effect on the city’s growth in the economic improvement aspect.
CPI, in the first six months of this year from the same period a year ago, rose 7.1 percent and is the barometer of inflation
Cai made the conclusion that Shanghai would still face inflation pressure in the next half fuelled by the likely price increases of edible oil and vegetable products.
The bureau’s figures also showed that Shanghai’s fixedasset investment rose 2.3 percent to hit 197.2 billion yuan in the first six months, down 7.3 percent from the first half of last year due to the tightening macroeconomic control, decreased number of infrastructure development projects and the shrinking of capital supply.
The investment in real estate development rose 3.8 percent to 64.3 billion yuan in the first half, but the growth rate shed 2.4 percentage points from the same period of last year. Besides, 54.3 billion yuan was dived into the industrial investment in the first half, down 7.8 percent from last year
Although the demand in overseas market declined, Shanghai’s import and export volume still climbed 23.2 percent to reach $157.6 billion in the first half. The export sector gained $80.4 billion with 25.1 percent growth last year.
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