SHENZHEN’S Acting Mayor Wang Rong told 38 journalists from 18 overseas media yesterday that the city would achieve the goal of 10 percent growth in GDP this year.
Shenzhen’s economy kept a healthy momentum in the first half of the year, despite the global economic downturn, he said.
It was the first time Wang had sat for a group interview by overseas media since he took office June 13.
His predecessor Xu Zongheng is under investigation for “serious disciplinary violations.”
Foreign agencies from seven countries, such as the Associated Press, Reuters, AFP, and newspapers like the Washington Post and Financial Times were among the interviewers.
“The city’s GDP growth was 8 percent in the first half of the year, higher than the nation’s and Guangdong’s average, and per capita income increased 9 percent compared with the same period last year,” Wang said.
The city’s exports decreased by 15.8 percent in the first six months, but the decrease was much smaller than in other export-oriented cities in China, Wang said.
“All the indices have shown the city’s economic structure and enterprises are crisis resistant, and the government’s counter measures against the crisis have been effective. It is not an easy job for an export-oriented city to reach such an achievement,” Wang said.
“In the second half of the year, the city government will emphasize economic and administrative reforms, innovation and improvement of residents’ livelihoods. I’m confident of attaining the goal of 10 percent GDP growth, which was set at the annual session of the municipal peoples’ congress earlier in February,” Wang said.
Wang said he felt honored and was working under pressure because Shenzhen, a role model of China’s reform and opening, had been commissioned by the Central Government to pilot comprehensive reforms in economic, government administration and social fields.
“The city government has worked out a three-year development plan under the framework of comprehensive reform, and cooperation with Hong Kong is a key part of the package of reforms,” Wang told reporters.
Two weeks after taking office, Wang headed a delegation to Hong Kong seeking further cooperation.
Prior to the meeting, the reporters visited the main sports venue of the 2011 Shenzhen Universiade, which is under construction in Longgang District, BYD Automobile Co. and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
The reporters were invited by the Guangdong Provincial Government Information Office to gain a better understanding of the economic and social development in the Pearl River Delta cities. During the upcoming week they will visit Huizhou, Dongguan and Guangzhou.
Han Ximin