THE Chinese economy maintained stable expansion in the first half (H1) of 2024, with more than half provincial-level regions across the country showing a stepped-up recovery trajectory over the period, which was fueled by robust industrial growth, new drives from the creation of new quality productive forces and comparatively strong external demand, provincial government data showed.
A total of 16 provincial-level regions saw their gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate higher than the national average of 5 percent in the first half. The output of both south China’s Guangdong and east China’s Jiangsu provinces exceeded 6 trillion yuan ($913.64 billion), ranking top two among all provinces, relevant data showed.
Chinese analysts said the figures prove the resilience of the world’s second-largest economy while showing potential for long-term growth. They expressed firm confidence in the country’s ability to achieve an annual GDP growth target of around 5 percent, calling for stepped-up policies to expand domestic demand, especially through increasing residents’ income.
New and green growth
Among the 31 Chinese provinces and municipalities that have released their GDP growth for the first half of the year, 16 recorded a GDP expansion above 5 percent. North China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region took the lead with a GDP growth rate of 6.2 percent, followed by southwest China’s Chongqing and southwest China’s Xizang Autonomous Region by both 6.1 percent, according to data released by local governments.
In the first six months, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in North China, east China’s Yangtze River Delta region and nine Chinese mainland cities within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) generated total output worth 25.5 trillion yuan, accounting for about 41.6 percent of national total economic output.
All these major economic regions have shown a good momentum in the growth of high-tech manufacturing and new quality productive forces. For example, investment in advanced manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing in Guangdong rose by 18.6 percent and 23.9 percent, respectively. In North China’s Shanxi province, the investment in high-tech manufacturing jumped by 50.6 percent and investment in new energy power generation rose by 34.9 percent.
“The data are remarkable, indicating a stable and upward trend of the Chinese economy,” Cao Heping, an economist from Peking University, told the Global Times on Monday.
Specifically, the regional economy represented by the GBA has become a locomotive engine leading China’s economy, as the in-depth integration of digital technologies and real economy has given birth to new industries and new business models that dominate these regions’ growth, Cao said.
Zhou Jingtong, deputy dean of the Bank of China Research Institute, attributed central and western regions’ remarkable performance to policy support, complete infrastructure facilities and comparatively lower labor cost. “Take Yibin city in Southwest China’s Sichuan for example. Previously, Yibin was famous for producing Chinese baijiu, but now [a] new energy industry booms in the city, underscoring the positive impact of industrial transfer,” he said.
Zhou added that industrial transfer and the rapid growth of the central and western regions of China will contribute to the country’s balanced economic development.
China’s coastal cities have a sound growth basis and large economic volume, but they also face pressure in maintaining relatively high GDP growth rate. These regions should enhance efforts to accelerate the development of new quality productive forces to handle the negative impact of the restructuring of global industrial chains, according to Zhou.
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