Will the rest of China follow Shanghai's lead to ditch GDP targets?
Shanghai's move to drop them sparks debate
Debate is rising about whether China should scrap annual gross domestic product goals following Shanghai mayor Yang Xiong's announcement that the city had ditched its official target for this year, making it the first provincial-level administration to abandon what is regarded as a Stalinist hangover.
The move has prompted speculation about whether other regional governments - or even the central government - will follow suit, or whether it would have an impact on Premier Li's Keqiang's work report.
Until recently, all officials - from county chiefs and municipal administrators to national leaders - knew that presiding over fast economic growth was the surest path to promotion and a successful career.
Even under the quasi-market, quasi-planned economy, GDP growth targets have become inviolable performance measures rather than serving as forecasts of activity for planning and budgetary purposes as they are in other developed economies.
Mainland officials have long been convinced that failing to achieve economic growth targets leads to soaring unemployment and social instability.
Yet, in recent years, the leadership has moved to favouring quality growth, rather than speed, after the cut-throat economic expansion of the past three decades led to overcapacity, worsening pollution, a deteriorating economic structure and widening wealth gap between people and regions.