Shanghai's?economy expanded by double digits in the first three quarters in a healthy and stable manner, Mayor Han Zheng said yesterday.

"Shanghai keeps a healthy, stable and smooth development as economic indicators showed," Han said yesterday during a meeting with Netherlands Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, who is visiting Shanghai for the first time.

Investment in the first three months posted a stable growth while the consumer price index, the main gauge of inflation, eased, Han said.

The city's fixed asset investment grew 4.8 percent on year in the first three quarters to 326.9 billion yuan (US$47.7 billion), the statistics bureau said.

The disposable income of both urban and rural residents rose by double digits in the first three quarters, Han said. Rural residents enjoyed an 11-percent rise in disposable income in the first three quarters, the bureau said.

Shanghai is an open city with foreign-invested companies being a part of its economy, Han said. The city, endeavoring to be a global financial center, is already home to major banks such as HSBC, Citigroup and Standard Chartered.

The operations of overseas banks in Shanghai are solid despite the global financial turmoil, the Shanghai banking regulator said on Monday.

Shanghai will closely watch the economic development in the remaining two months of the year amid the global financial crisis, Han said.

(Shanghai Daily October 29, 2008)