In the first three quarters of 2025, Shanghai's GDP reached 40.721 trillion yuan, reflecting a year-on-year increase of 5.5% at constant prices, which is 0.4 percentage points higher than the growth rate for the first half of the year. This growth rate surpasses the national average of 5.2%. Although Shanghai's economic growth in the first half of the year (5.1%) lagged behind the national figure (5.3%), many sectors in Shanghai, including industrial, financial, information services, rental and business services, technology services, wholesale and retail, accommodation and dining, and cultural and entertainment industries, showed marginal improvements compared to the first half of the year, contributing to Shanghai's resilient economic performance in the first three quarters.
"The economic data from the first three quarters reflects both Shanghai's resilience as a growth engine for the Chinese economy and the ongoing transformation and upgrading of its economic structure," noted Shen Kaiyan, director of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences' Economic Research Institute. He emphasized that the driving forces behind economic growth are more noteworthy than the growth rate itself.
Facing complex international challenges and significant structural adjustment pressures, Shanghai's economy achieved stable and resilient growth in the first three quarters, driven by the continuous expansion of new momentum formed by emerging industries, new business forms, and innovative models. The recovery of industrial production and the nurturing of new driving forces have played a pivotal role in Shanghai's ability to progress against the odds. In the first three quarters, the output of Shanghai's three leading industries grew by 8.5%, exceeding the overall industrial output growth of 2.8 percentage points. Among these, artificial intelligence, integrated circuits, and biomedicine grew by 12.8%, 11.3%, and 3.6%, respectively. Additionally, output from strategic emerging industries in industrial production rose by 7.3%, increasing their share of the city's total industrial output to 44.1%. Specifically, the output in new energy, next-generation information technology, and high-end equipment grew by 19.6%, 10.9%, and 10.3%, respectively.
"This is a critically important figure, as the output from Shanghai's strategic emerging industries is gradually approaching half of the total industrial output," Shen stated, asserting that these leading industries and strategic emerging sectors are genuinely serving as stabilizers and growth poles. Moreover, Shanghai's high-tech manufacturing sector experienced a year-on-year growth of 10.3%, which is 4.6 percentage points faster than the city’s overall scale industrial output, with aerospace and equipment manufacturing, as well as electronic and communication equipment manufacturing, achieving year-on-year growth of 20.6% and 13.4%, respectively. In the first three quarters, the production of wind turbine units and lithium batteries for energy storage increased by 100% and 27.9 times, respectively. By the end of September, the number of effective invention patents in the city reached 306,000, reflecting a year-on-year growth of 12.7%.
The accelerated development of emerging industries has boosted the industrial growth rate in Shanghai for the first three quarters, with the total industrial added value increasing by 5.3% year-on-year, which is a 0.2 percentage point improvement over the first half of the year; the total industrial output value grew by 5.7% year on year, with a 0.1 percentage point rise since the first half. "This uptick in growth is not merely a result of base effects, but the outcome of continuously releasing endogenous momentum," Shen noted, crediting Shanghai's proactive restructuring and forward-thinking strategies in building new engines for its earlier success in adapting to the challenges posed by dwindling traditional energy.
For instance, in Shanghai's endeavors to establish a world-class biopharmaceutical hub, an innovative ecosystem formed through the convergence of diverse innovative factors has continually generated new breakthroughs and results. Based on Shanghai’s superior innovative ecosystem, Shanghai Allist Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. (688578.SH) has witnessed explosive growth, with revenue reaching 2.374 billion yuan in the first half of 2025 and a net profit attributable to the parent company exceeding 1.051 billion yuan, marking a year-on-year increase of 60.22%. The company's self-developed third-generation epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor, furmonertinib, has quickly gained market traction post-launch, with new indications being rapidly expanded and approved. Hu Jie, vice chairman and executive deputy general manager of Allist, stated that a global Phase III clinical study of furmonertinib for the first-line treatment of advanced/metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations has completed patient enrollment earlier this year and is currently in the follow-up phase, potentially making it the world's first approved small-molecule targeted drug for this indication.
It is also significant to note that Shanghai is continuously laying the groundwork for future new driving forces. On one hand, industrial investments continue to maintain a rapid growth rate, increasing by 20.3% in the first three quarters, which is 14.3 percentage points higher than the city’s fixed asset investment growth rate of 6.0%. On the other hand, Shanghai is persistently advancing cost-cutting and efficiency-enhancing measures for industrial firms, with prices for land, electricity, gas, and heating continuing to decrease. From January to August, profits for industrial enterprises in the city grew by 16.3%, reaching 6.3% of the total profit. In the first three quarters, the sales rate of industrial products stood at 99.1%.
Financial and Information Services Leading Growth Not only industrial sectors but also the tertiary sector, which accounts for nearly 80% of GDP, saw key service industries like finance and information services continue to play a leading role in driving growth. In the first three quarters, the added value of Shanghai's tertiary industry reached 8.44867 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.9%. Among these, the financial industry's added value was 6.96527 trillion yuan, growing by 9.8%. As of the end of September, the city's deposits and loans increased by 8.4% and 7.1% year on year, respectively, and the growth rates of two key banking revenues have remained leading. Since the third quarter, stock market trading has been active, with trading volume growth of 95.2% in the first three quarters for Shanghai's securities departments. The premium income from original insurance policies grew by 10.1% year on year, an increase of 3.9 percentage points compared to the first half. Moreover, the added value of the information transmission, software, and information technology service industry reached 5.27742 trillion yuan, growing by 15.5%, exceeding the 14.6% growth of the first half. This reflects the structural transformation and upgrading of Shanghai's economy, as well as the resilience brought about by the growth of new industries, business forms, and models.
In the first three quarters, the revenue of scaled service industries in Shanghai grew by 7.7% year on year, consistent with the growth rate of the first half. Notably, the revenue from the information service industry surged by 22.8%, representing a 2.4 percentage point rise since the first half. A standout performance was observed in the strong demand for artificial intelligence computing power in Shanghai, where major platforms experienced rapid revenue growth due to the accelerated application of large models. Artificial intelligence is currently reshaping the global economic structure and innovation ecosystem with unprecedented depth and breadth. Shanghai is rapidly building an "AI hub" based on the continued advancement of its three leading industries, thereby driving industrial upgrades. In July of this year, a series of "measures to further expand the application of artificial intelligence in Shanghai" were released, aimed at lowering the cost of intelligent computing power and expanding the application of large-scale AI models.
Quarterly Growth in Social Consumption As the structure shifts, Shanghai's economy has also exhibited a positive trend in demand. In the first three quarters, the total retail sales of social consumer goods in Shanghai reached 12.30277 trillion yuan. In terms of growth rate, Shanghai's retail sales showed a gradual increase this year: a year-on-year decline of 1.1% in the first quarter, a growth of 1.7% in the first half, and a year-on-year increase of 4.3% in the first three quarters. Particularly in the third quarter, from July to September, the growth rates were 7.8%, 13%, and 9.2%, respectively. The policy encouraging consumers to trade in old goods for new has consistently yielded good results, stimulating nearly 110 billion yuan in social consumption since the beginning of the year. By category, in the above-scale units, retail sales of sports and entertainment goods, furniture, home appliances, and audio-visual equipment saw year-on-year increases of 27.7%, 22.1%, and 28.2%. Meanwhile, the accommodation and catering sectors showed positive recovery. The issuance of two rounds of "Enjoy Shanghai" service consumption vouchers totaling 1 billion yuan and the release of additional cultural and event consumption vouchers in the second half of the year have elevated the growth rates of the accommodation and catering industries in the first three quarters by 2.6 and 1.5 percentage points, respectively, with September recording growth rates of 9.1% and 2.6%.
Additionally, the linkage of Shanghai's cultural tourism and commercial sports has amassed new flows. With the hosting of events such as the "Shanghai Summer" international consumer season and the Shanghai Tourism Festival, the number of domestic and international tourists has significantly increased, reaching 6.366 million in the first three quarters, a year-on-year increase of 37%. During the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, Shanghai welcomed 25.485 million visitors, marking an increase of 19.7%, with hotel occupancy rates reaching 63.7%, up by 3.9 percentage points year on year. Shen remarked that the growth of Shanghai's economy also benefits from the resilience of consumption and the stabilizing effects of demand. As the largest consumer city in the country and a source of new consumption, Shanghai's consumption market not only reflects an upward trend in scale but also demonstrates rapid iterations and high engagement. With the development of an international consumption center city, new consumption scenarios introduced by platforms like Pinduoduo and Xiaohongshu are continuously activating Shanghai's consumption potential.
Currently, uncertainties and instabilities in the international environment persist, and the economy still faces numerous risks and challenges, requiring consistent reinforcement of the foundation for economic recovery. Shen Kaiyan concluded that the key to Shanghai's sustained stable growth is to continue seizing opportunities in global technological competition, innovation, and industrial chain restructuring, further activating domestic consumption.
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