Vivian Li

SHENZHEN reaped bumper harvests in 2007, becoming the first mainland city to nudge its per capita GDP past US$10,000, Mayor Xu Zongheng told local legislators Thursday.

“Shenzhen’s per capita GDP broke the US$10,000-mark to hit US$10,628 in 2007,” Xu said in a work report delivered at the annual meeting of the Shenzhen Municipal People’s Congress, which opened Thursday. “We have accomplished the targets set for the year.”

The city’s total GDP rose 14.7 percent to 676.54 billion yuan (US$97 billion) in the past year, the report said.

Shenzhen topped mainland cities in terms of comprehensive competitiveness, and scientific and harmonious development, on a list by the authoritative Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, an institution directly under the State Council and the highest academic research organization in the fields of philosophy and social sciences.

Valuing more efficiency in economic development than speed, or the “Efficient Shenzhen” principle, the city made remarkable progress in saving energy, reducing water consumption per 10,000 yuan of GDP by 7 percent to 27.7 cubic meters, half the world’s average, and upgrading industrial structure. Finance, high-tech and logistics sectors, the city’s pillar industries, were further boosted.

Key figures for 2007:

Industrial added value: 327.01 billion yuan, up 15.1 percent;

High-tech output value: 759.88 billion yuan, up 20.5 percent;

Ping An Insurance was the city’s first enterprise to become one of the world’s top 500;

Container throughput: 21.1 million TEUs;

Airport handling capacity: 20.62 million passengers;

Retail sales of consumer goods: 191.5 billion yuan, up 14.6 percent.