(Yicai Global) Jan. 30 -- Shanghai Mayor Ying Yong feels more confident in the city's future after its high-quality economic growth last year.

The city's economy was stable with solid momentum last year and beat expectations by rising 6.9 percent, the Shanghai Observer cited Ying as saying at a municipal government press briefing yesterday. Gross domestic product surpassed CNY3 trillion (USD473 billion) to mark a new stage of development, he added.

"But we value people's living standards, and efficient, well-structured development ahead of gross domestic product," the mayor said.

Shanghai's financial and information sectors grew 10 percent last year, faster than the 7.5-percent rise across the entire service industry, Ying added. New-energy vehicles, industrial robotics and high-end medical equipment grew at about 20 percent, quicker than average industrial growth at 6.8 percent, while manufacturing output in strategic emerging sectors rose by 4.1 percentage points and per-capita income among residents jumped 8.6 percent, climbing faster than average economic growth, he said.

Shanghai Daily reported on Jan. 25 that local authorities in the city would bring in new fiscal policies to further open up to boost services, manufacturing, consumer and culture sectors, though it didn't go into details on how it would go about doing so.