Shanghai saw a "better-than-expected" 6.7 percent economic growth year on year in the first half, driven by the fast developing services sector, the city's statistics bureau said yesterday.
The pace was on par with national growth during the same period and Shanghai's expansion in the first quarter.
The economic indicators showed that the city's economy has been better than expected with structural improvement, said Tang Huihao, chief economist at the Shanghai Statistics Bureau.
The added value in the city's services sector rose 11.6 percent to 917.57 billion yuan ($137 billion), accounting for 70.8 percent of the city's gross domestic product in the first six months.
Its growth also offset a 15.3 percent decline of added value in the agricultural sector and a 3.3 percent fall in manufacturing.
Industrial production fell 4.4 percent to 1.43 trillion yuan in the first half, reversing the 0.1 percent growth a year earlier, figures showed.
But production in strategic new industries, such as new energy and the biological sector, rose 0.7 percent to 385.38 billion yuan.
Retail sales rose 7.7 percent to 4.86 trillion yuan, faster than the 5.9 percent growth in the first half of last year.
Online sales totaled 60 billion yuan, up 17.8 percent from a year ago.
"From the data, we see faster growth in the services sector, advanced manufacturing sector and the Internet sector, revealing improved economic structure in Shanghai," Tang said. "The ongoing reforms in the free trade zone, Shanghai's commitment to technological innovation, and supply-side reforms will trigger greater economic momentum in the city."
Other data showed that consumer inflation rose to 3.1 percent in the first half from last year's 2.4 percent, driven by prices of food and services.
The disposable income of urban residents rose 8.9 percent to 29,030 yuan in the first half, and that for rural area residents jumped 9.7 percent to 14,638 yuan.
Investment in fixed assets rose 7.9 percent year on year in the January-June period, below the 8.4 percent rise last year.
Exports fell 2 percent to 562.5 billion yuan. Imports rose 0.9 percent to 747.1 billion yuan.
Shanghai has not set an official GDP target for the year, instead prioritizing boosting innovation, keeping unemployment below 4.5 percent, and investing 3 percent of GDP in green projects.
