Services shore up Shanghai growth
Print Edition
SHANGHAI’S service industry provided the mainstay for the city’s economy in the first three quarters, though it couldn’t prevent its overall growth in the period slowing to 6.8 percent, the Shanghai Statistics Bureau said yesterday.
Economic output in the January to September period was 1.78 trillion yuan (US$280.2 billion), with the service sector gaining 11.1 percent to 1.2 trillion yuan, or 67.6 percent of the total. The proportion was up from 67.1 percent in the first half and 64.8 percent for the same period of last year.
The 6.8 percent growth was down from 7 percent in the first half, the bureau said. While it did not provide a figure for the third quarter alone, it can be calculated that this was below the nationwide figure of 6.9 percent.
“Shanghai’s economic growth was stable, but the pace moderated due to deepening reforms,” it said in a statement.
“The positive is the optimized economic structure, with the service sector making up a greater share of the basket,” it said.
In comparison, the manufacturing sector lost 0.2 percent in the first three quarters, following a gain of 1.9 percent in the first half, while agriculture fell 10.4 percent.
“Shanghai’s economic rebound in the second quarter was brief,” said Lian Ping, chief economist at Bank of Communications.
“But that doesn’t change the good fundamentals in the city, which is striving to become a global financial and innovation center,” he said.
Within the service sector, the output of financial services and products rose 27.2 percent year on year in the first nine months, despite the stock market turning bearish in the third quarter.
Shanghai’s GDP growth has trailed the national level since 2008, and in the first three months of this year fell to 6.6 percent. However, much of this can be attributed to its efforts to create a “new normal” growth, which puts greater emphasis on the need for sustainability.
“People are confident about the future because of the various changes taking place in the city, especially the financial reforms within the pilot free trade zone,” Lian said.
Shanghai’s economy expanded 7 percent last year, slowing sharply from 7.7 percent in 2013. The city government did not set a target for this year.
The statistics bureau also said yesterday retail sales in the first three quarters rose 8 percent year on year, down from 8.2 percent growth in the first half but up from 7.8 percent for the first three months.
Fixed-asset investment gained 6.1 percent in the period, weakening from 8.4 percent in the first half, but up from 3.2 percent in the first quarter. Capital flows into the property sector gained 9.2 percent, while investment in urban infrastructure construction rose 28.6 percent, it said.
Industrial production in the period fell 1.7 percent to 2.28 trillion yuan, reversing an increase of 0.1 percent for the first half.
The consumer price index rose by 2.4 percent in the period, significantly slower than the 8.3-percent rise in disposable income for Shanghai residents.
More than 534,400 jobs were created in Shanghai between January and September, the bureau said, adding that the number of people registered as unemployed at the end of last month was 224,100.
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