China Watch Blog

China Watch Blog has learnt that Shanghai’s economy ended up with an annualized growth of 9.9 percent last year, accelerating from 2009′s 8.2 percent and well above an 8-percent target.

However, a quarter-on-quarter moderation indicated Shanghai requires a new engine to drive its economy after the World Expo, according to a Shanghai Daily report.

The city’s gross domestic product amounted to 1.687 trillion yuan (US$256.3 billion) last year, the Shanghai Statistics Bureau said today. The annualized rates in the four quarters settled at 15 percent, 10.7 percent, 9.2 percent and 5.9 percent respectively, showing a tendency of sharp moderation quarter after quarter.

In addition, Shanghai’s economic growth rate lagged the pace of the national average, which stood at 10.3 percent in 2010, for the third consecutive year.

“Shanghai has secured a stable growth last year,” said Cai Xuchu, chief economist at the local statistics bureau. “The slower pace, especially in the last quarter of 2010, was mainly due to a higher comparative base and it reflected the demand to revamp the city’s economic structure.”

Some analysts said today Shanghai requires a new engine to power ahead its economy after the World Expo, which contributed quite a lot to the city’s economic performance last year.

“Shanghai needs to find another stable source of growth after the Expo,” said Li Maoyu, an analyst at the Changjiang Securities Co. “Building the city into a global financial hub could be one, and construction of a Disneyland park can also contribute.”