(Yicai) Oct. 22 -- Shanghai's economy grew by 5.5 percent in the first three quarters from a year earlier, outperforming China's national growth rate of 4.6 percent, driven largely by the industrial, financial, and information technology sectors.

The city’s gross domestic product was CNY4.33 trillion (USD648.8 billion) in the nine months ended Sept. 30, according to data released by the local statistics bureau today. The three key sectors -- industrial, financial, and information transmission, software, and IT -- added 3.9 percentage points to growth to account for more than 70 percent of the overall expansion.

Shanghai’s industrial production jumped 5.5 percent in the period. Last year, it reached CNY1.12 trillion, accounting for nearly 20 percent of the city’s GDP.

The financial sector contributed CNY765.5 billion (USD114.7 billion), a 9.5 percent jump from a year ago. With the rapid development of artificial intelligence, large language models, and AI agents, software and IT services produced CNY582 billion, up 8.9 percent.

Shanghai's AI-related industrial chain provided strong support for the city’s three leading manufacturing sectors -- AI, integrated circuits, and biomedicine -- whose value added climbed 17 percent. The AI and IC industries surged 25 percent and 23 percent, respectively.

Across the broader industrial sector, the output value of strategic emerging industries increased 9.3 percent, with new energy vehicles and industries growing 27 percent and 16 percent, respectively. The figures for service robots, industrial robots, and ICs soared 27 percent, 23 percent, and 12 percent.

The growth of these strategic emerging industries has improved the composition of Shanghai’s international trade, with exports of high-tech products becoming an important growth driver. In the first three quarters, the trade in goods jumped 18 percent to CNY3.94 trillion from a year earlier, with exports up 22 percent to CNY1.81 trillion, an increase from 20 percent in the first half.

Exports of high-tech products surged 33 percent, accounting for nearly 29 percent of the total. AI-related products, such as ICs, memory components, and servers, as well as electric vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaic products, were the main contributors.

The city’s retail sales of consumer goods fell 1.1 percent to CNY1.2 trillion in the period. Excluding automobiles, they rose 1 percent. Inbound tourist arrivals soared 27 percent.

This quarter will be crucial to meeting Shanghai’s economic targets for the year, the city’s top planning body said. It pledged to strengthen analysis and monitoring of economic performance, maximise the impact of both existing and new policy measures, reinforce the economy's resilient growth momentum, and make every effort to achieve the annual targets.

Editor: Futura Costaglione