Shanghai raises growth by emphasizing service

Yan believes the forthcoming free trade zone will further beef up growth and catapult Shanghai to the forefront of global trade and financial hubs.

"Instead of simply policy incentives, the zone is an 'institutional arrangement' for Shanghai to carry out various trade and financial experiments," he said.

"I think Shanghai has been one of the slowest growing cities in China for a while. The free trade zone will definitely boost its growth in the long run," said Michael McDonough, a senior economist at Bloomberg LP.

But he also predicted the next six months will see the government accelerate investment projects, among other efforts to defend the GDP growth target it has set.