Provinces on stable growth track
Slower but sound GDP rise amid transformation
By Published: Jul 21, 2019 08:14 PM
Although many of their growth rates are slowing, the 18 provincial-level regions that had released first-half GDP data as of Sunday all presented a picture of economic resilience amid a complex external situation.
Observers said that the sound and stable growth of the local economies was in line with the country's overall performance in the first half of 2019, showing the resilience of the domestic economy. A mild slowdown is normal given the ongoing economic restructuring and deleveraging efforts carried out across the country, experts said.
Among the 18, Central China's Henan Province ranked first with GDP of 2.42 trillion yuan ($351.63 billion), up 7.7 percent year-on-year, slower than the 7.8 percent growth recorded for the first half of 2018.
Southwest China's Sichuan Province said its GDP exceeded 2 trillion yuan for the first time. The figure was 2.05 trillion yuan, with a growth rate of 7.9 percent, compared with 8.2 percent growth a year earlier.
Beijing recorded a GDP growth rate of 6.3 percent to 1.52 trillion yuan, compared with 6.8 percent during the same period of 2018.
The slowdowns follow years of heated growth, Liu Xuezhi, a senior macroeconomics expert at Bank of Communications, told the Global Times on Sunday. "Given the high bases, slower but sound growth rates show the resilience and high-quality growth of the country's economy."
Provinces in the eastern and southern parts of China might see persistent pressure as the demand for industrial transformation is more urgent and external demand has been waning, experts predicted. Western China might see higher growth rates because of a relatively lower base.
For instance, Southwest China's Yunnan Province reported a leading GDP growth rate of 9.2 percent year-on-year, unchanged from a year earlier. Its neighbor, Southwest China's Guizhou Province, recorded a growth rate of 9 percent, despite a slowdown from 10 percent rise in the first half of 2018.
Yunnan has ranked among the top three provincial-level regions in China in terms of GDP growth for seven consecutive quarters, according to media reports.
South China's Guangdong Province, as well as East China's Jiangsu and Zhejiang Province, have not released their figures yet.
Xu Hongcai, deputy director of the economic policy commission at the China Association of Policy Science in Beijing, told the Global Times on Sunday that growth imbalances persist in the country's economic development.
"On average, provinces in central and western China remain far behind provinces in the east," Xu said.
Heading into the second half of 2019, Chinese people's consumption power will continue to back up its economic growth, and high technology industries will become a new lever of the country's economic growth, Liu said.
China's GDP grew 6.3 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2019, slowing from 6.4 percent in the first quarter but falling within the annual target set by Chinese policymakers and surpassing the levels of other global economies.
Observers said that the sound and stable growth of the local economies was in line with the country's overall performance in the first half of 2019, showing the resilience of the domestic economy. A mild slowdown is normal given the ongoing economic restructuring and deleveraging efforts carried out across the country, experts said.
Among the 18, Central China's Henan Province ranked first with GDP of 2.42 trillion yuan ($351.63 billion), up 7.7 percent year-on-year, slower than the 7.8 percent growth recorded for the first half of 2018.
Southwest China's Sichuan Province said its GDP exceeded 2 trillion yuan for the first time. The figure was 2.05 trillion yuan, with a growth rate of 7.9 percent, compared with 8.2 percent growth a year earlier.
Beijing recorded a GDP growth rate of 6.3 percent to 1.52 trillion yuan, compared with 6.8 percent during the same period of 2018.
The slowdowns follow years of heated growth, Liu Xuezhi, a senior macroeconomics expert at Bank of Communications, told the Global Times on Sunday. "Given the high bases, slower but sound growth rates show the resilience and high-quality growth of the country's economy."
Provinces in the eastern and southern parts of China might see persistent pressure as the demand for industrial transformation is more urgent and external demand has been waning, experts predicted. Western China might see higher growth rates because of a relatively lower base.
For instance, Southwest China's Yunnan Province reported a leading GDP growth rate of 9.2 percent year-on-year, unchanged from a year earlier. Its neighbor, Southwest China's Guizhou Province, recorded a growth rate of 9 percent, despite a slowdown from 10 percent rise in the first half of 2018.
Yunnan has ranked among the top three provincial-level regions in China in terms of GDP growth for seven consecutive quarters, according to media reports.
South China's Guangdong Province, as well as East China's Jiangsu and Zhejiang Province, have not released their figures yet.
Xu Hongcai, deputy director of the economic policy commission at the China Association of Policy Science in Beijing, told the Global Times on Sunday that growth imbalances persist in the country's economic development.
"On average, provinces in central and western China remain far behind provinces in the east," Xu said.
Heading into the second half of 2019, Chinese people's consumption power will continue to back up its economic growth, and high technology industries will become a new lever of the country's economic growth, Liu said.
China's GDP grew 6.3 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2019, slowing from 6.4 percent in the first quarter but falling within the annual target set by Chinese policymakers and surpassing the levels of other global economies.
