According to figures released on January 12 by the Shanghai municipal government, the city's per capita gross domestic product (GDP) last year was 30,800 yuan (about 3,720 US dollars), 2,600 yuan more than that of 1998, and reachingthe level of an average middle-income country.

Statistics show that the steady growth of the local economy in 1999 brought a GDP of 403.5 billion yuan, up 10.2 percent, and the highest growth rate among all provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions in the country.

Economists predict that the city's per capita GDP will exceed 4,000 US dollars by the end of 2000.

Shanghai's GDP has maintained a two-digit growth rate annually since 1992, when its per capita GDP was 8,652 yuan for the year.