(Yicai Global) Jan. 28 -- Shanghai is targeting an economic growth rate of more than 6 percent for this year, according to the mayor of the eastern Chinese city.

The target corresponds with economic laws and objective facts and can be achieved with effort, Gong Zheng told reporters yesterday.

The city’s gross domestic product rose1.7 percent last year despite the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Shanghai should also fully play its leading role in theintegrated development of the Yangtze River Delta region and that of the ‘five hubs’ to become the best springboard for ‘going out’ and also the frontier for ‘bringing in,’ he added.

The term five hubs refers to the aim of building the city into an international center for economy, finance, trade, shipping and technological innovation. Gong had said previously that Shanghai would essentially achieve the first four last year, while a basic framework for a globally influential tech innovation center has been formed.

He said the key was to upgrade the city’s capabilities and boost its core competitiveness by taking the accelerated construction of five new areas -- Jiading, Fengxian, Songjiang, Qingpu and Nanhui -- as the starting point for a new pattern of faster urban development to create a strategic pivot for Shanghai’s future growth.

Those five new areas are to be counted among the world-class city clusters in the Yangtze River Delta, he said. Their function, and that of the main part of Shanghai and 40 other cities in the delta region, particularly the 10 or so around Shanghai, should complement one another.

‘Two Accelerations’

“Two accelerations” are needed in building these new areas this year, Gong said. The first is the swifter introduction of supporting policies, and the second is the faster building of new projects.

Gong also said Shanghai will soon issue a comprehensive opinion about supporting the Pudong area of the city to promote the implementation of a series of pioneering policies in reform and opening-up. Special arrangements to complete legal protections are being pushed forward in an orderly manner and Shanghai will also explore the development of offshore yuan transactions, cross-border trade settlement, and overseas fund-raising services to build an international financial asset trading platform.

Shanghai is now drawing up a fourth plan on the business environment, which has 107 provisions. The city did very well attracting foreign investment last year and can still be regarded as the top choice for multinationals’ industry chains.

Last year, Shanghai also welcomed the regional headquarters of more than 50 transnational companies, bringing the total to 771. The number of foreign-funded research and development centers rose by 20 to 481, while foreign talent increased to 200,000 people.

Editor: Tom Litting