Beijing targets GDP up 6% in 2021

BEIJING - Beijing strives to notch its year-on-year GDP growth to around 6 percent this year, local authorities said on Saturday.

The city also aims to maintain its consumer price index (CPI) increase within 3 percent compared to the prior year. The goals were released in the government work report delivered by the capital city's mayor Chen Jining at the ongoing fourth session of the 15th Beijing Municipal People's Congress.

As the city's per capita GDP grew from $18,000 in 2015 to about $24,000 in 2020, Beijing has become equivalent to a developed economy at an intermediate level. It plans to increase the figure to about 210,000 yuan ($32,500) by the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), according to the report.

Previous data has shown that Beijing's GDP reached over 3.6 trillion yuan in 2020, up by 1.2 percent over the prior year at comparable prices. Its CPI during the same period went up by 1.7 percent year-on-year.

The municipal lawmakers convened their annual meeting on Saturday. Both the city's political consultative and legislative meetings, collectively known as Beijing's "two sessions," kicked off this week to discuss local economic and social development over the past year and make plans for the year to come.