Business
30
August 2019

The 100 Largest China City Economies by GDP

Do you want to know which China city economies are the driving force behind Mainland China's huge and growing GDP figures? 

As China's best-known cities, it came as no surprise that 2019 data popular in Chinese media identified Shanghai and Beijing as the cities with the largest GDP, but few will even have heard of Xinyang, which was ranked 100th.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China's national GDP reached a new high of CNY 90,031bn (USD 13,608bn) in 2018, but which other Chinese cities had the largest share of this GDP? Keep reading to find out. 

Background on China City GDP Data

In August 2019 a report was released by the Guangzhou-based 21st Century Business Herald (21世纪经济报道) sharing data compiled by their "21 Data News Laboratory" (21数据新闻实验室) which listed the 100 Mainland China cities with the strongest economies. 

The report was widely reproduced throughout Chinese media as curious citizens were keen to see how their hometown ranked.

The data in this article is based on this original report by 21st Century Business Herald and refers only to cities in Mainland China, i.e. excludes Hong Kong, Macau & cities in Taiwan.

Bear in mind that due to the way China is administered, the GDP data for each city includes the contribution of counties and towns that fall under their jurisdiction, not just their own districts. This can skew results quite markedly for some cities with a large administrative area, such as Chongqing.

Map of 100 Largest China City Economies

To better illustrate where the largest China city economies are located, we plotted each of the top 100 cities on a map.

The cities represented by black dots each have economies ranked in China's top 25 and are mainly clustered around China's east coast. The darker the dot, the larger the economy.


Each point represents a Chinese city with darker shades representing larger cities. You can identify the different ranks based on the below color code:

Top 25 GDP Cities  |   Cities Ranked 26-50  |   Cities Ranked 51-75 |   Cities Ranked 75-100 

 

List of 100 Largest China City Economies

Here is a full list of the 100 China city economies with the largest GDP based on self-reported data from the first half of 2019.

There is a close correlation between Chinese city economies and China city tiers. Indeed the country's four 1st tier cities (Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou & Shenzhen) are also the four largest China city economies by GDP.

Rank City Name in Chinese GDP (2019, Q1-Q2 data) Province
1 Shanghai 上海 CNY 1641bn Shanghai Municipality
2 Beijing 北京 CNY 1521bn Beijing Municipality
3 Shenzhen 深圳 CNY 1213bn Guangdong
4 Guangzhou 广州 CNY 1176bn Guangdong
5 Tianjin 天津 CNY 1037bn Tianjin Municipality
6 Chongqing 重庆 CNY 1033bn Chongqing Municipality
7 Suzhou 苏州 CNY 955bn Jiangsu
8 Chengdu 成都 CNY 770bn Sichuan
9 Wuhan 武汉 CNY 748bn Hubei
10 Hangzhou 杭州 CNY 695bn Zhejiang
11 Nanjing 南京 CNY 674bn Jiangsu
12 Qingdao 青岛 CNY 655bn Shandong
13 Wuxi 无锡 CNY 596bn Jiangsu
14 Changsha 长沙 CNY 554bn Hunan
15 Ningbo 宁波 CNY 542bn Zhejiang
16 Zhengzhou 郑州 CNY 511bn Henan
17 Foshan 佛山 CNY 480bn Guangdong
18 Jinan 济南 CNY 479bn Shandong
19 Nantong 南通 CNY 458bn Jiangsu
20 Dongguan 东莞 CNY 422bn Guangdong
21 Yantai 烟台 CNY 417bn Shandong
22 Xi'an 西安 CNY 414bn Shaanxi
23 Quanzhou 泉州 CNY 401bn Fujian
24 Changzhou 常州 CNY 377bn Jiangsu
25 Hefei 合肥 CNY 375bn Anhui
26 Dalian 大连 CNY 367bn Liaoning
27 Xuzhou 徐州 CNY 354bn Jiangsu
28 Fuzhou 福州 CNY 353bn Fujian
29 Tangshan 唐山 CNY 339bn Hebei
30 Weifang 潍坊 CNY 338bn Shandong
31 Shijiazhuang 石家庄 CNY 316bn Hebei
32 Changchun 长春 Not reported* Jilin
33 Wenzhou 温州 CNY 296bn Zhejiang
34 Yancheng 盐城 CNY 289bn Jiangsu
35 Yangzhou 扬州 CNY 280bn Jiangsu
36 Shaoxing 绍兴 CNY 274bn Zhejiang
37 Taizhou 泰州 CNY 273bn Jiangsu
38 Harbin 哈尔滨 CNY 272bn Heilongjiang
39 Shenyang 沈阳 Not reported* Liaoning
40 Zibo 淄博 CNY 266bn Shandong
41 Nanchang 南昌 CNY 264bn Jiangxi
42 Jining 济宁 CNY 257bn Shandong
43 Linyi 临沂 CNY 251bn Shandong
44 Kunming 昆明 CNY 236bn Yunnan
45 Jiaxing 嘉兴 CNY 232bn Zhejiang
46 Luoyang 洛阳 CNY 232bn Henan
47 Xiamen 厦门 CNY 231bn Fujian
48 Taizhou 台州 CNY 226bn Zhejiang
49 Zhenjiang 镇江 CNY 222bn Jiangsu
50 Jinhua 金华 CNY 211bn Zhejiang
51 Huizhou 惠州 CNY 209bn Guangdong
52 Yichang 宜昌 CNY 208bn Hubei
53 Xiangyang 襄阳 CNY 206bn Hubei
54 Tai'an 泰安 CNY 205bn Shandong
55 Ordos 鄂尔多斯 CNY 197bn Inner Mongolia
56 Huai'an 淮安 CNY 196bn Jiangsu
57 Dongying 东营 CNY 195bn Shandong
58 Taiyuan 太原 CNY 195bn Shanxi
59 Zhongshan 中山 CNY 191bn Guangdong
60 Yulin 榆林 CNY 185bn Shaanxi
61 Weihai 威海 CNY 185bn Shandong
62 Dezhou 德州 CNY 182bn Shandong
63 Nanning 南宁 CNY 182bn Guangxi
64 Cangzhou 沧州 CNY 181bn Hebei
65 Guiyang 贵阳 CNY 179bn Guizhou
66 Zhangzhou 漳州 CNY 178bn Fujian
67 Nanyang 南阳 CNY 177bn Henan
68 Liaocheng 聊城 CNY 173bn Shandong
69 Heze 菏泽 CNY 171bn Shandong
70 Wuhu 芜湖 CNY 169bn Anhui
71 Handan 邯郸 CNY 168bn Hebei
72 Yueyang 岳阳 CNY 160bn Hunan
73 Changde 常德 CNY 160bn Hunan
74 Maoming 茂名 CNY 156bn Guangdong
75 Baoding 保定 CNY 150bn Hebei
76 Hohhot 呼和浩特 CNY 149bn Inner Mongolia
77 Zhuhai 珠海 CNY 148bn Guangdong
78 Zunyi 遵义 CNY 148bn Guizhou
79 Huzhou 湖州 CNY 146bn Zhejiang
80 Lianyungang 连云港 CNY 145bn Jiangsu
81 Zhanjiang 湛江 CNY 144bn Guangdong
82 Jiangmen 江门 CNY 143bn Guangdong
83 Suqian 宿迁 CNY 141bn Jiangsu
84 Xuchang 许昌 CNY 141bn Henan
85 Binzhou 滨州 CNY 135bn Shandong
86 Urumqi 乌鲁木齐 Not reported* Xinjiang
87 Lanzhou 兰州 CNY 134bn Gansu
88 Baotou 包头 Not reported* Inner Mongolia
89 Ganzhou 赣州 CNY 133bn Jiangxi
90 Zhoukou 周口 CNY 133bn Henan
91 Zaozhuang 枣庄 CNY 132bn Shandong
92 Hengyang 衡阳 CNY 131bn Hunan
93 Daqing 大庆 Not reported* Heilongjiang
94 Jiujiang 九江 CNY 130bn Jiangxi
95 Zhuzhou 株洲 CNY 127bn Hunan
96 Liuzhou 柳州 Not reported* Guangxi
97 Xinxiang 新乡 CNY 127bn Henan
98 Shantou 汕头 CNY 127bn Guangdong
99 Langfang 廊坊 Not reported* Hebei
100 Xinyang 信阳 CNY 121bn Henan

*GDP data for 2019 Q1-Q2 was unavailable for Changchun, Shenyang, Urumqi, Baotou, Daqing, Liuzhou and Langfang at the time the article was produced. Rankings for these cities are based on data from 2018 Q3-Q4, but unfortunately the actual GDP figure wasn't provided.

Chinese Provinces with the Most Top 100 Cities

One thing that this data highlights is the disparity of wealth between China's different provinces - a theme we have noted previously when looking at where Chinese companies are concentrated and where foreign companies do business.

The large and prosperous coastal provinces of Shandong, Jiangsu and Guangdong lead the way with the most number of top 100 cities.

Meanwhile, there are 4 Mainland China provinces without any city in the top 100. They are Qinghai, Tibet, Hainan and Ningxia.

Province Name in Chinese Number of Cities Cities (Rank)
Shandong 山东省 15 Qingdao (12), Jinan (18), Yantai (21), Weifang (30), Zibo (40), Jining (42), Linyi (43), Tai'an (54), Dongying (57), Weihai (61), Dezhou (62), Liaocheng (68), Heze (69), Binzhou (85), Zaozhuang (91)
Jiangsu 江苏省 13 Suzhou (7), Nanjing (11), Wuxi (13), Nantong (19), Changzhou (24), Xuzhou (27), Yancheng (34), Yangzhou (35), Taizhou (37), Zhenjiang (49), Huai'an (56), Lianyungang (80), Suqian (83)
Guangdong 广东省 11 Shenzhen (3), Guangzhou (4), Foshan (17), Dongguan (20), Huizhou (51), Zhongshan (59), Maoming (74), Zhuhai (77), Zhanjiang (81), Jiangmen (82), Shantou (98)
Zhejiang 浙江省 8 Hangzhou (10), Ningbo (15), Wenzhou (33), Shaoxing (36), Jiaxing (45), Taizhou (48), Jinhua (50), Huzhou (79)
Henan 河南省 7 Zhengzhou (16), Luoyang (46), Nanyang (67), Xuchang (84), Zhoukou (90), Xinxiang (97), Xinyang (100)
Hebei 湖北省 6 Tangshan (29), Shijiazhuang (31), Cangzhou (64), Handan (71), Baoding (75), Langfang (99)
Hunan 湖南省 5 Changsha (14), Yueyang (72), Changde (73), Hengyang (92), Zhuzhou (95)
Fujian 福建省 4 Quanzhou (23), Fuzhou (28), Xiamen (47), Zhangzhou (66)
Hubei 湖北省 3 Wuhan (9) , Yichang (52), Xiangyang (53)
Jiangxi 江西省 3 Nanchang (41), Ganzhou (89), Jiujiang (94)
Inner Mongolia 内蒙古自治区 3 Ordos (55), Hohhot (76), Baotou (88)
Shaanxi 陕西省 2 Xi'an (22), Yulin (60)
Anhui 安徽省 2 Hefei (25), Wuhu (70)
Liaoning 辽宁省 2 Dalian (26), Shenyang (39)
Heilongjiang 黑龙江省 2 Harbin (38), Daqing (93)
Guangxi 广西壮族自治区 2 Nanning (63), Liuzhou (96)
Guizhou 贵州省 2 Guiyang (65), Zunyi (79)
Sichuan 四川省 1 Chengdu (8)
Jilin 吉林省 1 Changchun (32)
Yunnan 云南省 1 Kunming (44)
Shanxi 山西省 1 Taiyuan (58)
Xinjiang 新疆维吾尔自治区 1 Urumqi (86)
Gansu 甘肃省 1 Lanzhou (87)
Shanghai Municipality 上海市 1 Shanghai (1)
Beijing Municipality 北京市 1 Beijing (2)
Tianjin Municipality 天津市 1 Tianjin (5)
Chongqing Municipality 重庆市 1 Chongqing (6)

 

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