Powerhouse 'on track' for double-digit growth

SHENZHEN: The country's economic powerhouse of Shenzhen will be able to maintain double-digit growth this year despite the global financial crisis, Mayor Xu Zongheng said in a press conference yesterday.

"We have been taking a series of countermeasures since the beginning of this year and adjusted investment plans across-the-board in April, which allowed the city to achieve 11.5 percent growth for the first nine months. We are expecting to hit the projected 12 percent of economic growth for the full year," Xu said.

The countermeasures highlighted include the setting up of special funds to facilitate the financing of small and medium-sized enterprises, accelerating structural adjustment of export products, plugging problems of land shortage for the companies and improving government services, the mayor said.