Twelve Chinese cities saw their GDP reach 1 trillion yuan (about US$145.02 billion) in 2016, as data compiled by the newspaper, 21st Century Business Herald shows.

The 12 cities are Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Chongqing, Suzhou, Chengdu, Wuhan, Hangzhou, Nanjing and Qingdao. Among them, Nanjing and Qingdao saw their GDP reach 1 trillion yuan for the first time.

Shanghai and Beijing again top the list with their GDPs reaching 2.75 trillion yuan and 2.49 trillion yuan respectively last year. The two cities register an economy equivalent in size to that of Thailand.

Among all the 28 major cities surveyed by the newspaper, the Chongqing Municipality in southwest China had the biggest growth rate. Its economy grew by 10.7 percent last year to 1.76 trillion yuan. Northeastern China's Shenyang is the slowest economy among the 28 cities, with its GDP growing only 3 percent last year.

The newspaper said the economic growth in north China's cities are slower than that in the south, with only one northern Chinese city, Zhengzhou of Henan Province, making it into the 10 fastest growing economies of last year.