Regional growth steady on quarterly basis

Regional growth was relatively stable while some disparities remained in the first three quarters, according to data from local statistics bureaus.

With more targeted policies aimed at improving economic structures, short links within the economy are expected to be improved in the coming months, according to analysts.

In the first three quarters, leading export processing bases Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces were the top three among 25 regions revealing economic data, with GDP reaching 7.06 trillion yuan ($1.01 trillion), 6.70 trillion yuan and 3.97 trillion yuan, respectively.

In terms of GDP growth, Yunnan province temporarily took the lead with 9.1 percent yearon-year growth in the first three quarters, which is 2.4 percentage points higher than the national level of 6.7 percent growth, followed by Guizhou and Jiangxi provinces.

A total of 15 regions outperformed the 6.7 percent year-onyear national average in the first three quarters, and six municipalities and provinces, including the nation’s traditional industrial heartland in the northeast, have yet to reveal the data.

Economic growth in Tianjin, a city neighboring Beijing, only reached 3.5 percent yearon-year in the first three quarters, the slowest growth pace of all regions revealing their data.

The city only achieved 1.9 percent and 3.4 percent growth in the first and second quarters, respectively.

The data reflected a sharp contrast compared to its performance years ago. Tianjin’s economic growth rate used to be among the best in the country for nearly a decade.

The major downturn comes after Tianjin’s Binhai New Area said it had revised down economic output by around one-third in 2016, because the region has submitted fake figures.

The regional economic data comes after the central government pledged to roll out more measures earlier this year to stabilize the economy as some export-oriented regions have felt some level of downward headwinds.

Some guidelines with targeted measures have been issued, including efforts to encourage more private investment and more supportive measures to improve infrastructure spending that has plunged since earlier this year.

Analysts expect such efforts will be helpful to assuage concerns over downward challenges, though it may take time to see them take effect.

Economists with Guoyuan International said preferential policies and measures to scale down costs for the manufacturing sector by the local government in Guangdong province will be helpful to solve some key long-standing challenges.

Companies are expected to lower costs by more than 200 billion yuan from 2018 to 2020, according to an estimate by the Guangdong provincial government.