Shanghai tops Chinese cities with record GDP for Jan-Sept

Shanghai takes the crown among Chinese cities with a record GDP in the first three quarters of this year of 3.09 trillion yuan ($482 billion), representing an increase of 9.8 percent year-on-year, news portal Sohu reported on Friday.

Strategic emerging industries contributed greatly to the city's economic growth in the first nine months, with the output value in new energy vehicles, digital creative industry and new energy surging 2.3 times, 29.2 percent, and 27.2 percent from a year earlier, respectively.

Three cities' GDP surpassed 2 trillion yuan, including Beijing at 2.98 trillion yuan, Shenzhen at 2.18 trillion yuan, and Guangzhou at 2 trillion yuan, respectively.

The pharmaceutical industry, which has driven Beijing's rapid economic growth, expanded 3.3 times year-on-year in the first three quarters of this year.

The GDP gap between Beijing and Shanghai is gradually narrowing, with the gap in the two cities standing at 111.4 billion yuan in the first nine months of this year, compared to 154.2 billion yuan in the same period in 2020 and 223.1 billion yuan in the same period in 2019.

Moreover, the GDP in Shanghai and Beijing is expected to reach 4 trillion yuan by the end of this year, said the report.

According to official data, Shenzhen's GDP grew 7.1 percent from a year earlier in the first three quarters of this year. The city's total retail sales of consumer goods reached 696 billion yuan, jumping 15.1 percent year-on-year. Its import and export of goods achieved rapid growth, with the figure reaching 2.5 trillion yuan, up 15.2 percent year-on-year.

The high-tech industry has been a powerful engine for Guangzhou's economy growth. In the first three quarters of this year, the added value of high-tech manufacturing increased 28.1 percent year-on-year, and the revenue of high-tech services increased 19.7 percent year-on-year.

Among Chinese cities, seven cities' GDP growth surpassed the country's economic growth of 9.8 percent year-on-year in the first three quarters of this year, including Wuhan (18.8 percent), Suzhou (10.9 percent), Beijing (10.7 percent), Hangzhou (10 percent), Chengdu (10 percent), Guangzhou (9.9 percent) and Chongqing (9.9 percent).