In the first half of the year, China's gross domestic product expanded by 4.7% year-on-year, with an increment of 3.6 trillion yuan, marking the strongest first-half increase in five years. This performance was highlighted in a report on the execution of national economic and social development plans, delivered to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress by Wang Changlin, Deputy Director of the National Development and Reform Commission, on behalf of the State Council.
This impressive start to the 15th Five-Year Plan period owes much to the collective efforts of all 31 provincial-level regions. In the first half of 2026, every province posted positive GDP growth. Among the highlights, Guangdong and Jiangsu each surpassed the 7-trillion-yuan threshold for the first time, Anhui reclaimed a spot among the top ten national economies, and 15 regions outpaced the national average growth rate. The overall picture is one of stability amid pressure, with a clear trend toward innovation and quality improvement.
Beneath the surface, provincial economic dynamics are undergoing a deep-seated race centered on new quality productive forces, with scale, speed, and structural optimization serving as key metrics.
Innovation Takes Center Stage as Major Economies Lead
Both Guangdong and Jiangsu, perennial leaders in economic heft, have achieved a milestone by surpassing the 7-trillion-yuan mark for the first time, with regional GDPs of 7.228 trillion yuan and 7.039 trillion yuan, respectively. This leap underscores their resilience amid global economic volatility.
The rapid conversion of new quality productive forces into tangible output is a defining theme for Guangdong's first-half performance. The province's value-added industrial output above a designated size grew 5.8% year-on-year, up 0.4 percentage points from the first quarter. The wave of artificial intelligence has accelerated industrial value-chain monetization, with output in computer, communication, and other electronic equipment manufacturing rising 11.6%, contributing a staggering 56.9% to the growth of large-scale industry. Production of industrial robots jumped 34.2%, 3D printing equipment surged 51.8%, and integrated circuits increased 29.7%.
Concrete signs of this momentum appear on factory floors and in markets. Feng Hua Advanced Technology has overcome core challenges such as 1,000-layer precision lamination, bringing its high-end MLCC manufacturing capability close to international standards and filling a domestic gap in high-end passive components. In Foshan's Midea KUKA Intelligent Manufacturing Science and Technology Park, Guangdong's first fully automated "robots producing robots" line operates around the clock. Jiateng Robot's mobile robots now work on the shop floors of global giants like Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Tesla.
Wang Lizong, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and President of the Guangdong High-Tech Industry Chamber of Commerce, observed that new quality productive forces are rapidly evolving from concept to output, becoming a powerful engine for Guangdong's GDP growth. The Pearl River Delta's highly specialized division of labor and collaborative industrial network, spanning R&D, key components, assembly, and sales, accelerates the translation of laboratory breakthroughs into applications. Around 90% of research institutions, personnel, and invention patent applications come from enterprises. This corporate-led innovation ecosystem, combined with the diversified synergies of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, drives innovation adoption, forming a linked cycle of research breakthroughs, corporate transformation, and market application.
Jiangsu, which has been mounting a robust challenge to Guangdong's top ranking, is narrowing the gap. The annual GDP difference between the two provinces has shrunk from 745.1 billion yuan in 2023 to 349.5 billion yuan in 2025. While Jiangsu’s first-half GDP ranks second nationally, its growth rate has overtaken Guangdong. The province's tenacity is evident in its detailed data: value-added output of high-tech manufacturing above designated size grew 14.8%, and digital product manufacturing expanded 13.5%, driving overall industrial growth. The chip industry chain is firing on all cylinders, with electronic special materials manufacturing up 41.9%, integrated circuit manufacturing up 26.8%, and electronic circuit manufacturing up 24.9%. Jiangsu's bottleneck areas are being turned into tangible output through independent innovation. This is visualized by whirring machines and converging platforms: in Nanjing Estun Automation, China's first intelligent production line for "robots manufacturing robots" can assemble a robot base in about ten minutes, producing dozens of industrial robot models. In Changzhou, a hub for power battery enterprises, downstream firms cluster to form industrial ecosystems, continuously channeling technological energy into the sector. In Wuxi, industry giants like China Resources Microelectronics, Hua Hong Semiconductor, and JCET Group anchor the integrated circuit industry's "backbone."
Yang Decai, CPPCC National Committee member and professor at Nanjing University, believes that Jiangsu's new quality productive forces have moved from conceptual framing into a substantive implementation phase centered on "scientific innovation sourcing, scenario application, and financial backing." Scientific and technological innovation leads the charge, with R&D investment accounting for about one-eighth of the national total, targeting six emerging pillars and six future industries as source breakthroughs convert into industrial advantages. The "AI+" initiative, combined with thousands of intelligent factories, positions Jiangsu enterprises across AI computing chips, embodied industrial robots, and full-chain large models, turning manufacturing-scenario advantages into AI industrialization barriers. Patient capital further ensures that new growth drivers can take root and thrive.
With solid foundations, resilience, and strong momentum, these major economic provinces serve as the ballast for national economic stability. Following Guangdong and Jiangsu, Shandong ranks third with 5.3173 trillion yuan, and Zhejiang fourth with 4.7937 trillion yuan. The top ten provinces together generated approximately 42.7 trillion yuan in GDP, accounting for over 60% of the national total. While these provinces anchor the national economy with new quality productive forces, their supporting logic is shifting from economies of scale to innovation advantages, with artificial intelligence as the key catalyst.
"AI is injecting strong momentum into high-quality economic development, but the dividends of cost reduction and total factor productivity gains have not been fully realized. There remains a gap in the deep conversion of general large model capabilities into real industry and business entities," noted Xu Jin, CPPCC National Committee member and deputy director of the Jiusan Society Central History Research Center. He suggested leveraging the strengths of private tech enterprises in flexible innovation, rapid scenario iteration, and strong technology deployment capabilities to fine-tune large models for industry-specific applications, scenario packaging, and business adaptation, ensuring smart capabilities truly take root in enterprises and empower industries.
Regional Collaboration Creates Multi-Level Resonance in Central and Western Regions
The catch-up momentum in central and western regions is not to be underestimated, with several provinces accelerating their pursuit in high-quality regional development, steadily narrowing the gap with the eastern seaboard. Tibet leads nationally with a 6.3% economic growth rate. Anhui, Henan, Hubei, and Qinghai exceeded or matched a 5% growth rate, outperforming the national average. Gansu and Ningxia also recorded 4.9% growth, while regions like Inner Mongolia improved their growth rankings compared to the same period last year.
In the central region, Anhui has returned to the national top ten by GDP, overtaking Hunan for the first time in years, with a GDP of 2.737 trillion yuan and a 5.6% growth rate. How did Anhui manage this comeback? In the first half of the year, its large-scale industrial value-added output grew 12.4%, ranking second nationally. High-tech manufacturing value-added surged 44.6%, contributing more than half of overall industrial growth. Boosted by exports of "new three" items, the province's total imports and exports climbed sharply, surpassing Sichuan to become the largest foreign trade province in central and western China. The combination of industrial relocation and inland opening-up is unlocking further growth dividends.
The "provincial capital-led" strategy is a key to Anhui's economic growth. At Hefei's NIO Advanced Manufacturing Xinqiao Plant No. 2, nearly a thousand robots are deployed in a single body shop. In June, this factory, built less than four years ago, was designated a global "lighthouse factory." In the Hefei High-Tech Zone, China Telecom Quantum Group is conducting internal tests of a quantum-secure communications network based on a metropolitan quantum network. Memory chip giant CXMT went public on the Science and Technology Innovation Board in July, directly boosting downstream and upstream output.
Turning to the west, Inner Mongolia, which has seen notable improvement in growth rankings, posted a GDP of 1.281 trillion yuan in the first half, up 4.5% year-on-year. More important is the structural shift: value-added output in equipment manufacturing grew 22.7%, and high-tech manufacturing rose 11.6%, both outpacing the large-scale industry average. Modern coal chemical industry expanded 18.6%. The stereotype of a "coal-only" economy is being dismantled as the region charts a greener, more innovative path—from afforestation in the Mu Us Sandy Land to new energy bases in the Kubuqi Desert, from bustling China-Europe freight trains at Manzhouli port to brightly lit data center facilities.
"On one hand, we are accelerating the creation of a modern industrial system with Inner Mongolia's unique strengths: traditional sectors like energy and chemicals are being revitalized, emerging industries such as modern equipment manufacturing and big data continue to grow, and future industries like hydrogen, new energy storage, and low-altitude economy are being laid out comprehensively. On the other hand, the region is pursuing major projects, tightening mechanisms for joint review across three levels, speeding up project construction and investment attraction, and leveraging government investment guidance to stimulate private investment and emerging industry vitality," said Li Jingjing, a standing committee member of the Inner Mongolia Regional Committee of the CPPCC and deputy director of the Regional Development and Reform Commission. She argues that Inner Mongolia's transformation is inseparable from the dual forces of industrial upgrading and investment innovation.
The advances of Anhui and Inner Mongolia also point to a broader trend: regional coordination and industrial collaboration are bringing fresh vitality and competitive edges to central and western provinces. Whether it's Anhui's aerospace and microelectronics industrial parks that attracted industrial transfer from the Yangtze River Delta—known as "golden signboards"—or Inner Mongolia's green power transmission bases supplying the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, collaboration is being woven into the code of high-quality provincial growth. When the Yangtze River Delta's industry, capital, and technology deeply integrate with Anhui's manufacturing and talent, and when Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei's scientific innovation precisely matches Inner Mongolia's energy and resources, the multiplier effect of coordinated regional development is unleashed.
"Developing new quality productive forces tailored to local conditions requires institutional and technological innovation to advance in tandem. The next step is to organize CPPCC members, government departments, tech enterprises, and experts to discuss institutional barriers to developing new quality productive forces, promote the establishment of industry-specific data-sharing spaces in key sectors like finance, healthcare, transportation, and manufacturing, improve market foundational systems and regulatory frameworks, deepen market-oriented allocation of production factors, and steadily advance the construction of a unified national market," Wang Lizong recommended in conclusion.
Reporters: Sun Lin, Lin Yi, Jiang Di | Text Editor: Sun Lin | New Media Editor: Mo Chou