2 new cities join trillion yuan GDP club

An employee (left) addresses visitor queries during a trade fair in Guangzhou, Guangdong province. [DENG HUA/XINHUA]

Two more cities in China — Changzhou in eastern coastal Jiangsu province and coastal city Yantai in eastern Shandong province — joined the trillion yuan city club when they announced their GDP exceeded 1 trillion yuan ($139 billion) each in 2023, taking the total number of such cities to 26.

Changzhou joined the club earlier this month, solidifying Jiangsu's status as a leader with the highest number of trillion-yuan cities.

"Changzhou's economic development in 2023 witnessed a historic leap forward, with its GDP growing by around 6.8 percent to stand above the 1 trillion yuan GDP level," said Sheng Lei, the city's mayor.

She said Changzhou has set its 2024 GDP growth target of over 6 percent, with focus on the development of industrial clusters, innovation, and green and low-carbon transition.

Yantai, home to 7.06 million residents, is among the first batch of cities involved in China's opening-up. The city has made rapid strides in industries such as clean energy, and has been transforming its traditional industries by enhancing its innovation capacity.

How Yantai can continue to increase its economic output after joining the club is now the key task for local authorities, said Jiang Cheng, Party secretary of the city, adding that many cities whose GDP had surpassed 1 trillion yuan were faced with a growth bottleneck.

Jiangsu now boasts five trillion yuan cities — Suzhou, Nanjing, Wuxi, Nantong and Changzhou — and is followed by Guangdong province that has four — Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Foshan and Dongguan.

Shandong province has three — Qingdao, Jinan and Yantai — while Zhejiang and Fujian provinces have two each.

In addition, Chongqing's GDP grew by 6.1 percent to surpass 3 trillion yuan in 2023 for the first time, according to the local government on Sunday.

Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong, reported its 2023 GDP of over 3 trillion yuan, the provincial government said on Tuesday.

Guangzhou thus became the fourth city nationwide — after Shanghai in 2017, Beijing in 2018 and Shenzhen in Guangdong province in 2021 — to achieve a 3 trillion yuan GDP.

Foshan and Dongguan, old members of the club, both kept their GDP levels above 1 trillion yuan in 2023.

"Manufacturing industry, which is seen as a foundation for economic development, plays an essential role in driving local GDP growth," said Li Zhijian, a deputy to the Guangzhou municipal people's congress.

Guangzhou has been tackling difficulties and making comprehensive efforts in manufacturing and investment, reflecting its economic resilience and vitality, said Li, who is also president of the Asia-Pacific Institute for Innovation and Industrial Research.

"As the economy rebounds and improves, businesses will be quickly pouring in," said Li.

Guangzhou had 3.4 million operating business entities in 2023, up 7.7 percent over 2022, according to the local statistics authorities.

There are cities quite close to the entrance of the club. Xuzhou in Jiangsu, Tangshan in Hebei province, Dalian in Liaoning province and Wenzhou in Zhejiang are expected to join the trillion yuan city club sooner than later.

According to reports of several municipal governments, some cities with their 2023 GDP ranging from 500 billion yuan to 700 billion yuan have also set their sights on becoming members of the informal club, especially those involved in the development of the Yangtze River Delta region, which is currently home to nine club member cities.