Twenty-four cities pass trillion-yuan GDP mark

The GDP of 24 Chinese cities was above the trillion-yuan ($157 billion) benchmark in 2021, an indication of the country’s steady economic recovery despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, experts said. Dongguang in Guangdong province became the latest city to achieve the feat last year.

In 2021, Beijing became the first Chinese city to register GDP of more than 4 trillion yuan.

The 1 trillion-yuan figure is usually seen as a benchmark of a city’s economic prowess. Shanghai was the first Chinese city to hit the mark in 2006, followed by Beijing in 2008.

The development of the 24 cities has been buoyed by the constant advance of the urbanization process, steady increase in urban populations, substantial development of urban economies and the boom in technological innovation.