BEIJING, Jan. 26 -- Shanghai Party Secretary Yu Zhengsheng made the future vision clear Friday - the city should not only be an economic showcase but also a national trailblazer in pushing innovative industries forward.

    The observations were made as Yu joined the ongoing meeting of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Shanghai Committee to listen to the city's top advisory body's opinions about all aspects of development.

    Yu told committee members that Shanghai's development plays a critical role as it has a strong influence and impetus on the whole of China.

    "So everything we consider and every decision we make should take a nationwide perspective, even if the choice might push Shanghai to the edge of economic losses,'' he said.

    For instance, Shanghai has undertaken the country's "big-jet'' strategy to play a leading role in research and development, design, parts manufacturing and final assembly of the made-in-China planes.

    Total investment budget of the project is expected to range between 50 billion yuan (US$6.9 billion) and 60 billion yuan, in which Shanghai will invest in a big way.

    That huge investment won't necessarily bring profits to the city in the next two or three decades, Yu said. Losses are even foreseeable.

    "It does pose big fiscal risks for us to run these large-scale and high-tech projects, but it's in the whole country's interest to lay foundations for the national innovation industry,'' Yu said.

    "Shanghai should be willing to take risks and shoulder responsibilities, not for the city itself, but for sake of the whole of China,'' he said.

    During the nearly three-hour meeting yesterday, 26 CPPCC Shanghai Committee members aired their opinions on the city's economic growth, financial-center construction, market management, environmental protection, poverty relieving and management problems.

    Guo Xiang, a committee member and president of the Shanghai Guoxiang Science and Technology Co Ltd, brought his product sample - coal made from urban waste and even human excrement - to the meeting hall and called on the city to boost recycled fuel for environmental protection.

    The social welfare system should help people living under the poverty line, said Cheng Xiaoyu, a CPPCC member from the Huangpu District Labor and Social Security Bureau.

(Source: Shanghai Daily)