The added value of Shanghai's industrial sector in the first three quarters in 2016 was 507 billion yuan ($74 billion), accounting for just 26 percent of the city's GDP, the lowest in history, according to the Annual Report on Economic Development of Shanghai that was released on Feb 21.

It was the second negative growth experienced after the minus 0.9 percent in the same period in 2015.

The report by the Institute of Economics at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences stated that the decline is a sign that the service economy has become the leading force of economic development in the city.

It added that Shanghai's manufacturing sector had experienced a downward trend after the global financial crisis in 2008 before accelerating in 2013, and now requires a new impetus to address the slowdown in growth.

"After decades of rapid development, Shanghai's manufacturing industry is now faced with both interior and exterior problems, including the drastic changes in domestic and foreign economic development environments as well as the excess capacity in traditional areas," said the report.

According to Shanghai's 13th Five-year Plan (2016-20), the added value of the industrial sector should be around 25 percent of Shanghai's GDP.

zhouwenting@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 02/24/2017 page7)