(Yicai Global) Nov. 14 -- The gross domestic product of Shanghai and Beijing topped CNY2 trillion (USD288 billion) in the last three quarters, way ahead of their peers in China, while the GDP gap between Guangzhou and Shenzhen has continued to widen in the same period.

The economic data of 28 first- and second-tier Chinese cities Yicai Global surveyed prompts this conclusion.

Shanghai's GDP in the first three quarters this year was CNY2.3 trillion (USD331 billion), up 6.6 percent annually. Beijing gained CNY2.2 trillion (USD317 billion) with a yearly jump of 6.7 percent. The two seized the top two positions in China.

Shenzhen and Guangzhou, the two first-tier cities in the Pearl River Delta region, ranked third and fourth, respectively, with Shenzhen's at CNY1.8 trillion (USD259 billion) and Guangzhou's CNY1.7 trillion (USD245 billion). The notable gap between the two has been growing since Shenzhen first displaced Guangzhou in 2016. The disparity, which was CNY27.3 billion (USD3.9 billion) in 2016, reached CNY93.5 billion (USD13.5 billion) the next year.

Shenzhen realized GDP of USD259 billion in the last three quarters in annual growth of 8.1 percent, while Guangzhou achieved USD244.7 billion, up 6.3 percent per year. Shenzhen was CNY82.2 billion (USD11.8 billion) ahead of Guangzhou in GDP in the first three quarters, and accordingly the annual inequality will be over CNY100 billion.

Shenzhen's rapid growth is due in large part to the quick development of its high-tech and modern service sectors. Guangzhou's three traditional pillar industries, petrochemicals, automobiles and electronics, are facing profound changes amid the tide of industrial transformation and upgrading. Slumps in industrial growth also account for slides in the economic development rates of Chongqing and Tianjin.

Wuhan, Hefei, Zhengzhou, Xi'an, Chengdu and several other central and western provincial capitals have grown rapidly and become the major engines for economic growth in their regions, with these provincial capitals all passing the 8 percent mark in the first three quarters, public data shows.

The dgrowth patterns of Chinese central and western regions are not the same as those of the developed coastal regions. These areas' economic development needs a growth pole to lead their environs before they enter the late stage of industrialization, Peng Zhimin, dean of the Institute of Yangtze River Basin Economy at Hubei Academy of Social Sciences, told Yicai Global.

Editor: Ben Armour