(Yicai) July 30 -- Nine of China's 10 largest cities by gross domestic product posted an economic growth higher than the national average of 4.7 percent in the first half of the year, with Guangzhou and Shenzhen tying for the first spot at 5.8 percent.

The top 10 Chinese municipal economies remained Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Suzhou, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Wuhan, and Nanjing in the first half. They all posted GDP growth above 4.7 percent, except for Chongqing’s 4.2 percent, according to data compiled by Yicai.

Beijing and Shanghai saw their economies expand 5.4 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively, in the six months ended June 30 from a year earlier. Suzhou, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Wuhan, and Nanjing reported GDP growth rates of 5.6 percent, 5.0 percent, 5.3 percent, 5.7 percent, and 5.3 percent, respectively.

Guangzhou's first-half economic growth of 5.8 percent was the fastest in the period since 2022, up from 3.8 percent a year ago. The rebound was mainly driven by a recovery in industry, with value-added output from large industrial enterprises up 6.6 percent. The city's three pillar industries -- automobiles, electronics, and petrochemicals -- expanded 9.1 percent, 11 percent, and 5.2 percent, respectively.

Guangzhou's auto production shrank for the past two years because of the shift to electric vehicles, down 20 percent in 2024 and 5.1 percent in 2025. In the first half, the city's new energy vehicle output surged 53 percent, driving a 54 percent increase in lithium battery production.

Shenzhen's growth was powered by industry and trade. The value-added output of its large industrial firms surged 8.7 percent in the first half from a year earlier, with manufacturing up 9.3 percent. Artificial intelligence computing infrastructure construction was the main engine driving the city's industrial growth this year, according to the local statistics bureau.

Training and inference for AI models require AI chips, semiconductor equipment, cooling products, and a stable power supply. This buoyed computer and communications equipment manufacturing, general and special equipment manufacturing, and power and heat supply by 12 percent to 13 percent, which contributed to more than 90 percent of Shenzhen's industrial growth.

Shenzhen's foreign trade climbed 33 percent to CNY2.88 trillion (USD425.3 billion) in the first half from a year earlier, outpacing the national growth rate of 17 percent. Imports soared 60 percent, and exports of high-tech products rose 26 percent.

Chengdu, the capital of southwestern Sichuan province, saw its auto production plunge over 21 percent in the first half, making it the only metric to decline in the period. This weighed on the city's services sector, whose growth slowed to 4.9 percent from 6.1 percent a year ago.

Chongqing's value-added industrial output rose 4.1 percent between January and June, down from 5.6 percent a year earlier, largely because growth in the auto sector slowed to 3.4 percent in the period from nearly 13 percent in 2025. Auto production fell by 100,000 units from a year ago, with the output of combustion-engine vehicles down 18 percent and that of NEVs up 4 percent.

The divergence in growth rates across cities reflects differences in their industrial structure, according to analysts. Their ability to accelerate restructuring and complete the transition between old and new growth drivers will shape their position in the next round of competition.

Editor: Futura Costaglione