SHANGHAI — Shanghai's gross domestic product (GDP) exceeded the four-trillion-yuan (about $630.4 billion) threshold in 2021, local authorities said on Jan 20.

The metropolis in East China saw its GDP increase 8.1 percent year-on-year to 4.32 trillion yuan last year, according to the government work report delivered by the city's mayor, Gong Zheng, at the ongoing sixth session of the 15th Shanghai Municipal People's Congress.

Over the past year, against the background of a complicated external environment as well as the unstable pandemic situation, Shanghai has achieved a good start in the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025) by promoting high-quality development, creating high-quality life, developing high-efficient governance, and consolidating its current achievements of epidemic prevention and economic development, Gong said.

New growth engines continued to drive Shanghai's economy. The manufacturing output of the three key industries — integrated circuits, biomedicine, and artificial intelligence — increased by 18.3 percent in 2021.

Shanghai also performed well in terms of foreign trade last year. The total imports and exports of the city exceeded 4 trillion yuan, rising 16.5 percent compared with the previous year.

Despite the faltering global economy due to the pandemic, Shanghai, at the forefront of China's reform and opening-up, has attached great importance to attracting foreign investors. In 2021, its actual utilization of foreign investment reached $22.55 billion, an increase of 11.5 percent over the previous year.

Shanghai now is home to 831 regional headquarters of multinational companies, including 60 newly established ones in 2021, the mayor said.

The city expects to notch a year-on-year GDP growth of around 5.5 percent this year, according to the government work report.