Well-known Chinese news site Sina recently reported that the City of Shanghai officially announced it was giving up on the 2015 GDP growth goal it had set earlier. This is the first large city in China to stop using GDP as one of the primary indicators to measure its economy. The mayor set a new goal, which is to maintain “stable growth” and to continue with economic optimization and quality improvements. The Chinese GDP growth rate used to be one of the highest in the world. However the rate has been declining in recent years. Chinese President Xi Jinping suggested last year that China cannot continue measuring economic growth simply by looking at GDP numbers. In the past, GDP had become the single most important measurement of the government’s performance. This resulted in a large number of inefficient investments and in the loss of balanced development. The Chinese central government typically announces its GDP goal in March at the National People’s Congress conference.
Source: Sina, January 26, 2014
http://finance.sina.com/gb/wsj-ftchinese/ftchinese/20150126/01461200323.html