Shanghai first Chinese city to top 3 trillion yuan GDP

Shanghai became the first city in China, the world's second-largest economy, to top GDP of 3 trillion yuan ($469 billion) and achieved higher-than-expected growth last year, official data revealed on Friday.

The municipality achieved 3.01 trillion yuan in GDP in 2017, for year-on-year GDP growth of 6.9 percent, which corresponded with that of the previous year and last year's national average, according to the Shanghai Municipal Statistics Bureau.

"As an early bird of the nation's economic restructuring, such figures embody the standard and quality of Shanghai's steady economic growth, as well as its role in leading, radiating and driving the development of the Yangtze River Delta and its surrounding areas," said Tang Huihao, the bureau director.