Shanghai targets 5.5 per cent consumption-led GDP growth for 2023 as it looks to recover ground lost to Covid lockdown
- Shanghai will strive to achieve economic growth of 5.5 per cent in 2023, despite the headwinds buffeting the global economy, according to Mayor Gong Zheng
- City’s GDP target could exceed the national goal of 5 per cent likely to be set at the National People’s Congress in March
“We will align the tasks of expanding domestic demand and deepening the supply-side reform to pursue healthy growth with stable employment and consumer prices,” he said in a report to the local legislature on Wednesday.
“Considering all factors, we suggest a 5.5 per cent GDP expansion target,” Gong added, referring to the uncertainties in the global economy, such as rising interest rates and the possibility of recession in the West, which could affect demand for goods manufactured in the city.
However, there is a strong possibility the city’s GDP target could be higher than the 5 per cent national goal likely to be set by the State Council during the National People’s Congress in March, when the twice-a-decade government reshuffle concludes, according to Xu Mingqi, a researcher with the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences and an economic adviser to Shanghai’s leaders.
The mayor did not disclose the city’s full-year growth in 2022.