Shanghai, mainland China’s economic locomotive, failed to achieve its growth target for 2023 amid slumbering exports, which stayed flat even after the country’s reopening after the Covid-19 pandemic, reports the South China Morning Post. The city’s gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 5% to RMB 4.72 trillion ($664.5 billion) last year as the global economy turned out to be weaker than expected, Mayor Gong Zheng told an annual session of the Shanghai People’s Congress on Tuesday.
The growth pace fell short of a goal of 5.5% the local government had set at the beginning of 2023.
“The external environment remains complex and severe, geopolitical conflicts persist, and the global economic recovery lacks momentum,” Gong said.