(Yicai Global) Jan. 23 -- Shanghai has pegged its economic growth target at about 6.5 percent for each of the coming five years, Mayor Ying Yong said today at the annual session of the Shanghai People's Congress.
Shanghai became China's first city to have a gross domestic product of more than CNY3 trillion (USD466 billion) last year as its economy expanded 6.9 percent. The east coast city averaged an annual 7.1 percent in the last five years. 

Deeper reforms in the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone, enhanced innovation, and the improved quality of economic development are among the most significant achievements during the last half decade, Ying said in a government work report. Reforms and opening-up remain the government's top priority this year, as well as efforts to build an open economy at a higher level, he added.

China, the world's second-largest economy, has slowed in recent years amid a global recession and as the country's leaders steer it away from a growth model rooted in resource-based manufacturing, investment and exports toward one focused more on domestic-driven services, private consumption and innovation. GDP gained 6.9 percent last year, the first accelerated rate since 2010, to CNY82.7 trillion (USD12.9 trillion), the National Bureau of Statistics said last week.

The International Monetary Fund yesterday raised its forecast for China's economic growth this year amid a more positive outlook for a worldwide recovery. The IMF expects China's GDP to expand at a 6.6 percent clip this year. The Washington-based lender last October made a prediction of 6.5 percent.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will make an official central government forecast for the nation's 2018 GDP growth in his annual work report scheduled for March.

Shanghai's Master Plan

Shanghai released a blueprint outlining objectives, development models, spatial patterns and other major initiatives through 2035 at the start of this year. Under the plan, published on Jan. 4, China's largest city will set up the basic framework for becoming a science and technology innovation center by 2020 and build itself into an international economic, financial and trade hub.

The municipality will also seek to enhance its ability to integrate with the global economy, deepen reforms in the free trade zone and explore building a free trade port. It will further seek to play a role in China's Belt and Road Initiative and the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and will look to integrate with neighboring cities to create a major metropolitan region and a world-class city cluster.

To quash difficulties arising from rapid population growth and limited resources, Shanghai aims to restrict residents to 25 million by 2035. Over 24 million people lived in the city at the end of 2016. The metropolis will limit land for construction at 3,200 square kilometers and prioritize eco-friendly urban development.