The first-half economic growth rates of 13 provinces and municipalities have exceeded the national rate of 7.6 percent, with Tianjin leading the way at 12.5 percent, according to statistics released by China Business News Monday.

Beijing was the only one of the 13 whose economic growth rate was below 8 percent, with a year-on-year growth rate of 7.7 percent in the first half.

Provinces registering economic growth rates of over 10 percent included Yunnan, with a growth rate of 12.4 percent, Shaanxi at 11 percent, Anhui at 10.9 percent, and Sichuan at 10.1 percent.

It was the first time that Hunan and Hubei provinces reached GDP of over 1 trillion yuan ($163 billion) in the first half, with a growth rate of around 10 percent.

However, the majority of the provinces and municipalities saw their economic growth rates slow in the second quarter of 2013. Beijing's growth rate over the first six months, for example, was 0.2 percentage points lower than in the first quarter.

One of the main reasons for the slowdown in Beijing is the poor performance of the services and hospitality industries, Zhou Qingjie, director of the Economic Research Center of Beijing Technology and Business University, was quoted as saying by China Business News.

The services sector has often served as a mainstay for Beijing's economy, but the recent measures to crack down on ­lavish expenditure by officials appear to have taken a significant toll on the performance of the catering and accommodation industries, Zhou noted.