(Yicai Global) Jan. 20 -- Shanghai has become the second Chinese city after Beijing to surpass the CNY4 trillion (USD630.5 billion) mark for annual gross domestic product.

The city’s GDP grew 8.1 percent, the same as the national economy, to CNY4.32 trillion (USD681 billion) last year, Mayor Gong Zheng said in a government work report today. The local government set this year’s GDP growth target at 5.5 percent.

Beijing announced yesterday that its GDP was CNY4.03 trillion (USD635 billion) last year, up 8.5 percent. The two cities are the only ones in China with GDP exceeding CNY4 trillion and they may rank about 21st globally behind Switzerland and Turkey, per 2020 figures.

Shanghai developed stably last year, Gong noted. General public budget revenue increased 10.3 percent, consumer prices rose 1.2 percent, and as many as 635,000 new jobs were created, he said.

Spending on social research and development as a share of the city’s GDP remained at 4.1 percent, he said. The output value of the three major industries -- integrated circuits, biomedicine, and artificial intelligence -- soared 18.3 percent. The city ranked first for the number of companies owned per 1,000 people, Gong added.

China’s GDP growth exceeded a government target of “over 6 percent” in the 12 months ended Dec. 31 to climb to CNY114.37 trillion (USD18.03 trillion), according to official data published on Jan. 17.

Other regions of China have also revealed their 2021 GDP figures. Jiangsu province, north of Shanghai, saw the local economy expand 8.6 percent to CNY11.64 trillion, while southern Guangdong province’s GDP rose 8 percent to CNY12.4 trillion, surpassing CNY12 trillion for the first time, as Dongguan likely became its fourth city with an economy of more than CNY1 trillion.

Editor: Futura Costaglione