Shanghai targets faster growth in retail sales and steady foreign investment this year with the World Expo set to create a lot of new opportunities in the city, a senior government official said yesterday.

The city aims to achieve a 16 percent rise in retail sales this year, up 2 percentage points from a year earlier.

Sha Hailin, director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce said foreign direct investment will be at an "appropriate" scale when the local government tries to direct more of it into the services sector.

Shanghai's retail sales gained 14 percent year on year to 517.3 billion yuan (US$75.7 billion) in 2009, thanks to robust demand and a lot of stimulus measures to spur expenditure.

Sha said"The World Expo will have an all-around influence on Shanghai's commerce development when it brings in huge flows of people, cargo, businesses and information.""The event will give a big boost to the city's consumption and will enhance the city's attraction for foreign investors when the Expo provides a unique platform for Shanghai to showcase its various advantages."

The city will continue the "old-for-new" program, which gives people subsidies for trading in old vehicles and home appliances for new ones, this year and add more items to the list of products which can receive subsidies, Sha said.

The directing of more foreign investment into the services sector is to meet the demand of the city's economic restructuring. Shanghai aims to become less reliant on exports and become a services-led economy to make its development more sustainable.

Last year, Shanghai's foreign direct investment increased 4.5 percent on an annual basis to US$10.5 billion, of which 72.3 percent was channeled to the services industry.

"Shanghai will enhance the efforts this year and attract more foreign investors to settle their regional headquarters in the city," Sha said.But government officials and business leaders should also be aware of the difficulties ahead, Sha said.

He noted the foundation for global recovery was still not very solid and there was a growing trend of trade protectionism which deterred cross-border business and investment.