(Yicai) Feb. 4 -- The 5 percent economic growth target that Shanghai has set itself for this year has realistic support, but the underlying structure of that support is changing, according to deputies to the Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress.

Shanghai’s gross domestic product rose by a more-than-expected 5.4 percent to CNY5.67 trillion (USD817.6 billion) last year, Mayor Gong Zheng said yesterday when delivering the city’s government work report. It is expected to grow by around 5 percent this year, he added.

Traditional investment and consumption will remain important this year, but growing demand for computing power driven by artificial intelligence along with related energy and infrastructure construction is likely to keep generating momentum and become a growth driver that cannot be ignored, Zhu Keding, vice chairman of Intelligence Power Electric Engineering and deputy to the Shanghai People’s Congress, told Yicai.

If infrastructure is properly planned and institutional mechanisms are well designed, this source of growth can be sustained, Zhu added. AI is not only bringing technological change but also creating a new electricity demand profile centered on computing power, so whoever prepares the power and energy systems first will be better positioned to capture the next round of growth, he said.

Zhu laid out three recommendations. First, computing power demand and new types of electricity loads should be treated as key prerequisites in industrial planning, with grid capacity, energy structure, and system security considered simultaneously when introducing and developing AI-related industries.

Second, he called for accelerating the construction of a modern power system, building energysupport capabilities that match the computing power economy, and strengthening system resilience and balancing capacity through measures, such as energy storage deployment, grid upgrades, and energy digitalization.

Third, Zhu said market expectations should be kept stable to encourage private businesses to commit to long-term investment. AI, computing power, and energy engineering are all long-cycle sectors, making policy continuity one of the most important production factors.

To achieve its growth target, Shanghai must continue to “break new ground” in key areas, Wu Jian, party secretary of Shanghai Duan & Duan Law Firm and an SMPC deputy, told Yicai.

The city should seize the initiative in “new frontiers,” vigorously developing future industries such as brain-computer interfaces and fourth-generation semiconductors, and supporting intelligent connected vehicles, the low-altitude economy, and satellite internet to create new growth engines, Wu said.

It should also step up efforts to cultivate and expand “long-term capital and patient capital” and give market participants the confidence to invest through the better alignment of rules and regulations, and create a world-class business environment, Wu added.

Chen Yan, general manager of Shanghai Jinjiang Shipping Group and also an SMPC deputy, said Shanghai should further strengthen the resilience of its foreign trade and closely track the effectiveness of measures aimed at stabilizing trade and foreign investment.

At the same time, the city should boost efforts to promote the green shift by coordinating actions on the supply, market, and policy fronts, with a focus on building international hubs for green shipping fuel bunkering and trading, thereby securing a first-mover advantage in developing a comprehensive new energy supply system, Chen pointed out.

Editor: Futura Costaglione