The skyline of the Central Business District in Beijing, China. (Photo: CFP)

China's top two largest cities, capital Beijing and economic center Shanghai, are aiming to notch its year-on-year gross domestic product (GDP) growth to more than 6 percent this year, local authorities said on Saturday.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Beijing and Shanghai suffered negative economic growth in the first half of 2020 and achieved 1.2 and 1.7 percent GDP growth respectively in the whole year, according to government reports.

Per the reports, the cities' per capita GDP exceeded $23,000, which is equivalent to developed economies at an intermediate level such as Saudi Arabia and Czech Republic.

Beijing aims to maintain its consumer price index increase within 3 percent compared to the prior year, while Shanghai set a target within 2.5 percent, according to the reports.

China's statistical department said Shanghai and Beijing were also the top two cities with biggest per capita income and consumption in 2020. However, Beijing's per capita consumption went down 9.6 percent compared to the previous year, while Shanghai has seen a 6.7-percent decrease.

Shanghai is the only city in China seeing its per capita consumption reach over 40,000 yuan ($6,171).

Municipal lawmakers convened their annual meeting on Saturday.

Both cities' political consultative and legislative meetings, collectively known as the local governments' "two sessions," kicked off this week to discuss local economic and social development over the past year and made plans for the year to come.