Hainan Was China’s Second-Fastest-Growing Provincial Economy in First Half
Li Xiuzhong
DATE:  Jul 28 2021
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
Hainan Was China’s Second-Fastest-Growing Provincial Economy in First Half Hainan Was China’s Second-Fastest-Growing Provincial Economy in First Half

(Yicai Global) July 28 -- Hainan’s gross domestic product expanded at the second-fastest rate among China’s 29 provincial-level administrations in the first half from the same period last year as the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port, the country’s biggest free trade zone, attracts huge investment, according to the latest data.

Hainan logged GDP growth of 17.5 percent in the six months ended June 30, behind only Hubei province in the north that clocked 28.5 percent. Beijing and southeastern Zhejiang province came in joint third place at 13.4 percent. The Tibet Autonomous Region and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region are the only two administrations that have yet to release their first-half economic results.

Hainan has the highest average growth rate among the 29 provincial-level regions, averaging 7 percent over the last two years. The number of fixed asset investments has more than doubled over the last two years, and in the first half surged 20.7 percent year on year. Its non-property development investment gained 21.8 percent in the first half, 2.8 percentage points more than that of property development investment.

Hubei’s economy, meanwhile, logged such rapid growth largely due to the low baseline last year when the province found itself at the epicenter of the Covid-19 outbreak. Hubei’s GDP growth has averaged just 1.8 percent over the last two years.

Most of the high performers are in the country’s east. This is a reflection of the area’s manufacturing strengths, which has helped them bounce back quickly post-Covid-19, Huang Yongwei, deputy director to the Guizhou Academy of Social Sciences, told Yicai Global.

As factories in other countries remain shut as the pandemic continues to rage, these eastern provinces have seen a big jump in orders, Huang said. While the industries in the central and western provinces are more focused on the rough processing of raw materials.

Rise of the Southwest

China’s inland southwestern provinces are beginning to outstrip the coastal northeast, one of the country’s earliest regions to industrialize, in terms of economic growth. Chongqing recorded first-half growth of 12.8 percent and has averaged growth of 6.8 percent in the last two years. By comparison, Liaoning's GDP only expanded by 9.9 percent in the first six months, with an average growth of 2.8 percent since 2019.

Chongqing's government has made many efforts to upgrade its industrial structure and make other adjustments in the last few years, which have had a positive effect, Yi Xiaoguang, director of the Chongqing Institute of Comprehensive Economic Research, told Yicai Global.

Chongqing’s GDP was CNY1.29 trillion (USD198.5 billion) in the first half, more than Liaoning’s CNY1.26 trillion. Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, also in the southwest, logged GDP of CNY2.52 trillion and CNY1.27 trillion respectively. Sichuan outstripped Liaoning in economic performance as early as 2015.

Another southwestern province, Guizhou, ranked 11th place with GDP growth of 12.1 percent. The pandemic has proved to be a big drag on economic growth, Huang said. Consumption and foreign trade have failed to significantly boost the local economy due to its small size.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Kim Taylor


 

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Keywords:   Economic Data,GDP,Provincial Regions,Regional Analysis