Shanghai drops GDP growth target amid 'new normal'

(ECNS) -- China's economic powerhouse Shanghai has eliminated its economic growth target for this year, according to the local mayor Yang Xiong, making it the country's first city to openly give up the target obsession.

"We are not too concerned about GDP," Mayor Yang said at the opening of the city legislative session.

He added that the government is paying more attention to developing a pilot free-trade zone and to economic and social reforms.

According to the governmental report for 2014, Shanghai already lowered its growth target from 8 percent one year earlier to 7.5 percent. The city's GPD grew by 7 percent in 2014, missing the goal and also hitting the lowest level since 1991.

The financial hub has also made clear requirements about innovation for the first time.

"The expenditure for research and development will account for more than 3.6 percent of Shanghai's total GDP and the number of patents held by every 10,000 people would reach 26," it was stated.

Han Zheng, Shanghai's Party chief, previously told the Financial Times that Shanghai is more concerned about quality, structure, and efficiency.

He added that the city would make a greater contribution to the country's shift to qualitative goals.

Professor Liu Rui, with the School of Economics at Renmin University, said Shanghai's elimination of its growth target doesn't mean giving up on growth.

He noted that Shanghai's better-developed economy allows the government some leeway to improve environmental protection and livelihoods.

The Chinese leadership has called for greater tolerance for slower growth under its "new normal" theory.

President Xi Jinping said the economy has shifted gear from previous high speed to a medium-to-high speed growth, and that the economic structure is constantly being improved and upgraded, increasingly driven by innovation instead of input and investment.

Starting from last year, more Chinese provinces have lowered growth targets in 2015. Northwest China's Gansu province dropped its 2015 target to 8 percent from 11 percent in 2014, while Hunan province cut its target from 10 percent in 2014 to a current 8.5 percent.