Shanghai GDP remains above 8% in 2011, Mayor says

SHANGHAI'S economic growth in 2011 remained more than 8 percent despite a slowdown, while consumer prices increased 5.2 percent, Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng told the city's legislators this morning.

That compared to a 9.9 percent growth in gross domestic product and a 3.1 percent increase in the Consumer Price Index in 2010.

But Shanghai's CPI growth was still "slower than the national level," Han said, without giving more details.

Shanghai's gross domestic product expanded 8.3 percent during the first three quarters of 2011, slowing down as the city focused on quality rather than quantity of economic growth.

Han said today that Shanghai will release PM2.5 data, a measure for airborne particulates harmful to human health, among the first batch of cities on China's mainland.

He also disclosed that the city will add 40 new kindergartens this year to ease a supply shortage and boost oversight of school bus after recent accidents in other provinces.