Just Three Northern Provinces Make China's Top 10 for GDP
Li Xiuzhong
DATE:  Aug 01 2019
/ SOURCE:  yicai
Just Three Northern Provinces Make China's Top 10 for GDP Just Three Northern Provinces Make China's Top 10 for GDP

(Yicai Global) July 31 -- Only three provinces in northern China appeared among the top 10 ranked by gross domestic product in the first half of this year, suggesting that economic weakness continues across the north of the country.

Shandong, Henan and Hebei came in third at CNY4.2 trillion (USD607.2 billion), fifth at CNY2.4 trillion, and ninth at CNY1.8 trillion, while southern Guangdong was top with CNY5.1 trillion, followed by Jiangsu with CNY4.9 trillion. All five rankings were unchanged from last year.

Northern provinces were even weaker for GDP growth. Just two of the top 10 fastest-growing economies were in the north. Henan at 7.7 percent and Shanxi at 7.2 percent, took the eighth and ninth spots. Top-ranked Yunnan and second-ranked Guizhou had growth rates of 9.2 percent and 9 percent, followed by Jiangxi at 8.1 percent.

Hit by overcapacity in traditional industries, especially resource-based and heavy chemical businesses, economic growth in the north, northeast and parts of the northwest has been weak in recent years. Seven of the 10 provinces with the lowest GDP were Shanxi, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Xinjiang, Gansu, Ningxia and Qinghai, according to last year's data.

The northern regions deserve the most attention from an economic perspective according to Chen Yao, vice president and secretary general of the China Association of Regional Economic.

Unbalanced development -- strong in the south and weak in the north -- must be considered when drawing up regional development strategies and policies, Chen said. China must pay attention to the balance while continuing to promote the coordinated development of the eastern, central and western regions and narrowing the gap between eastern and western areas. 

Jilin and Heilongjiang and the two northern autonomous regions of Xinjiang and Tibet had not released their first-half GDP data as of yesterday, though earlier figures show they are not economically robust.

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Keywords:   GDP,Province