In his work report delivered to the municipal People's Congress yesterday, Lin vowed to duplicate the double-digit economic growth achieved during the past five years.

Guangzhou's gross domestic product (GDP) reached 238.3 billion yuan (US$28.7 billion) last year.

Lin set a target of annual GDP growth of 12 percent over the next five years. Per capita GDP is expected to exceed 64,000 yuan (US$7,700) by 2005.

The information industry may account for at least 15 percent of GDP in 2005. By that time it is estimated the city will have 2.5 million Internet users, about a quarter of the city's population.

Other main growth engines will be foreign trade, which exceeded US$23.38 billion last year and has risen 21.7 percent year-on-year, and the lucrative services sector, which is expected to soon account for 55 percent of the GDP.

"Continuous reforms and innovations in the system will guarantee a bright outlook for the city," Lin said.

In order to prepare for the impending entry into the World Trade Organization, improvements are predicted to take place in the industrial sector, the social security system, the legal system and government administration.

The mayor admitted the municipal government faces a tougher challenge than economic issues: the improvement of living standards.

According to his work report, Guangzhou will aim to become one of the leading Chinese cities in which to live, despite its current problems with pollution and the high density of its population.

In five years, the city aims to cover 35 percent of its urban areas with parkland, offer at least 10 square meters of parkland for each resident, and control air and water pollution.

"The focus will move from material benefits to people's living quality. This shows the progress in the administrative ideology of the municipal government," said Zhang Sui, a deputy from Yuexiu District.

From 1995 to 2000, Guangzhou had taken a lead among China's cities in increasing its GDP by an average annual rate of 13.1 percent.

The city has pumped 61 billion yuan (US$7.35 billion) into roads, railways and other city facilities to ease the pressure caused by the ballooning population.

(China Daily 02/23/2001)