The per capita GDP of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province exceeded $10,000 in 2006 if it indeed had only 7.03 million permanent residents.

This would make the South China city the first in the country to reach the benchmark of a developed economy.

Guangzhou's GDP last year was 623.6 billion yuan ($79.94 billion), an increase of 14.4 per cent over 2005.

"Which means Guangzhou's per capita GDP was more than $11,000 in 2006, given the present foreign currency exchange rate and the city's registered permanent residents of 7.03 million," a director of Guangzhou Academy of Social Sciences Peng Peng said.

"Per capita GDP is a more scientific index to measure economic development than GDP. A per capita GDP of more than $10,000 has transformed Guangzhou into a developed city from a developing one."

But the city's municipal authorities seem to have a more conservative attitude towards the per capita GDP figure.

"The city government's target is to have a per capita GDP of more than $10,000 by 2010," Guangzhou Statistics Bureau analyst Feng Jun said.

"The difference lies in what the actual population of the city is," she said. "Many people are not registered as permanent residents for varied reasons. If they are included, Guangzhou's permanent population would rise to 9.94 million."

"In my view, all the permanent population should be taken into account for a fairer calculation of the per capita GDP," she said.

Guangdong has 10 indices of modernization, eight of which have been achieved in Guangzhou, with the remaining two to be met by 2010.

At a recent municipal political consultative conference, Guangzhou Mayor Zhang Guangning said the city would expedite the development of high-tech industries such as software and bio-medicines and the manufacturing-orientated service industry to maintain its fast pace of economic development.

Zhang said Guangzhou's objective is to realize an annual software industrial output of 110 billion yuan ($14.1 billion) by 2010.

Guangzhou wants to realize a bio-medicine output of 100 billion yuan ($12.82 billion) by 2010, turning the industry into a key driver of the economy. This will transform the city into a technological innovation center and a leading bio-medicine industry base in South China and even in the entire country.

Guangzhou will make good use of its advantages the airport, harbours and cyberport for a faster development of the tertiary industry directed primarily towards the manufacturing industry.

Editor: Yan