Shanghai's gross domestic product grew 6.7 percent in the first three quarters of this year from a year earlier and was in line with the national economic growth, the Shanghai Statistics Bureau said yesterday.
The expansion remained flat from that in the first half of the year, the bureau said.
Services, which accounted for 70.9 percent in the total economic output, was the main driver of the GDP growth. The sector rose 10.3 percent in the first nine months, while manufacturing dipped 0.7 percent and agriculture fell 12.1 percent, data showed.
The economic data of the third quarter showed that the city's economy has been "better than expected," the bureau said.
"Shanghai delivered a stable economic performance, but we have to admit that the economic conditions both domestically and globally remain complicated," it said. "The city's economy is in a crucial stage of transition and gear-changing. The foundation of a sustainable economic development is still unstable."
The data also revealed a mixed picture as industrial production fell 1.3 percent to 2.22 trillion yuan ($329 billion) from a year earlier in the first three quarters, with electronic products declining the deepest.
However, production in strategic new industries such as new energy and biopharmaceuticals rose 2.2 percent to 598.94 billion yuan, expanding faster than the 0.7 percent growth in the first half, the bureau said.
Retail sales added 7.2 percent to 7.27 trillion yuan in the first nine months, below the 7.7 percent growth in the first half of this year. Online sales surged 15.7 percent from a year ago to 90.41 billion yuan.
Other data showed consumer inflation hit 3.2 percent in the first three quarters, driven by services and food prices.
The disposable income of urban residents rose 8.8 percent to 40,888 yuan in the first nine months, and that for rural residents jumped 9.7 percent to 21,099 yuan.
Shanghai's exports dropped 2.4 percent to 875.2 billion yuan in the same period while imports rose 1.5 percent to 1.17 trillion yuan.
