Click to read the original article for details From the perspective of total GDP, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shandong, Zhejiang, Henan, Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan, Hebei, and Fujian rank among the top ten nationally. As of July 30, except for Jilin, Heilongjiang, Xinjiang, and Tibet, 27 provinces have released their first-half economic data, and the pattern of faster growth in the south and slower in the north is increasingly evident. From the perspective of total GDP, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shandong, Zhejiang, Henan, Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan, Hebei, and Fujian rank among the top ten nationally. Among them, only three are northern provinces: Shandong, Henan, and Hebei. In terms of economic growth rate, among the 27 provinces that have released data, 11 are below the national growth rate, with 7 of them in the north. Northern provinces continue to slide in rankings On July 30, the Hebei Provincial Bureau of Statistics released first-half economic data. In the first half of this year, Hebei's GDP was 1,770.00 billion yuan, an increase of 7.1% year-on-year, with the growth rate accelerating by 0.6 percentage points compared to the same period last year. This slightly alleviates the threat of Hebei being overtaken by Fujian this year and continuing to slide in rankings. In recent years, Hebei's economy has been running at a low level. According to Yicai's analysis, from 2014 to 2018, Hebei's economic growth rates were 6.5%, 6.8%, 6.8%, 6.6%, and 6.6%. During these years, Hebei was successively overtaken by Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan, and other provinces, sliding from the sixth position nationally to ninth. In 2018, Hebei's GDP was 3,601.03 billion yuan, while Fujian, ranked tenth, had a GDP of 3,580.404 billion yuan, growing at 8.3%. The difference between the two provinces was only 20 billion yuan, and Fujian's growth rate far exceeded Hebei's, making it very likely that Fujian would overtake Hebei. Fortunately, in the first half of this year, Hebei's economic growth rate achieved a leap, growing 7.1% in the first half, maintaining above 7% for two consecutive quarters. In contrast, Fujian's GDP in the first half was 1,664.015 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.1%, with the growth rate falling by 0.1 percentage points compared to the first quarter and the same period last year. The difference between the two provinces in the first half was 100 billion yuan. However, although the momentum of Hebei being overtaken by Fujian has eased, the divergence in development between the south and north in recent years has been significantly reflected in the provincial GDP rankings, with the weight of northern provinces in China's economic landscape gradually declining. Yicai's comparative analysis over a five-year observation period found that in 2014, among the top ten provinces nationally, Shandong, Henan, Hebei, and Liaoning ranked third, fifth, sixth, and seventh respectively, with the north and south roughly equal in strength. However, in the following five years, rankings changed significantly, with Hebei and Liaoning dropping sharply, while southern provinces such as Sichuan, Hubei, and Hunan rose rapidly. Besides Hebei, Liaoning, which previously ranked seventh nationally, had economic growth rates of 5.8%, 3.0%, -2.5%, 4.2%, and 5.7% from 2014 to 2018. Its GDP ranking slid from sixth place nationally, falling out of the top ten, and by 2018, it had dropped to 14th place nationally. Even Shandong and Henan, which are relatively stable in the top ten, are not performing prominently. Especially Shandong, whose growth rate fell to 5.4% in the first half of this year, widening the gap with Guangdong and Jiangsu. Shandong, in the midst of transitioning between old and new growth drivers, is making every effort to learn from southern provinces, which has also become a focus of public opinion. From another perspective, looking at the bottom ten provinces in terms of total GDP among the 31 provinces, i.e., the "ten weak provinces" relative to the top ten, the gap between the south and north is also very obvious. According to 2018 data, among the bottom ten provinces in total GDP, seven are from the north: Shanxi, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Xinjiang, Gansu, Ningxia, and Qinghai. 11 provinces below national growth rate, 7 in the north Under downward economic pressure, economic growth rates across provinces have generally slowed, but northern provinces have seen larger declines and generally lower growth rates. From the first-half economic data this year, the pattern of faster growth in the south and slower in the north is increasingly prominent. Yicai's analysis found that among the 27 provinces that have released first-half economic data, 15 provinces have growth rates higher than the national rate of 6.3%. They are Yunnan, Guizhou, Jiangxi, Fujian, Anhui, Hubei, Sichuan, Henan, Shanxi, Hunan, Zhejiang, Hebei, Jiangsu, Ningxia, and Guangdong. It is not difficult to see that southern provinces have relatively high economic growth rates, especially those in central-south and southwest China leading the growth. Among them, Yunnan's GDP growth rate in the first half was 9.2%, ranking first nationally, and Guizhou ranked second with a growth rate of 9.0%. Among these 15 provinces that outperformed the national average, only 4 are in the north, and among the top ten in growth rate, only Henan and Shanxi are northern provinces. Among these 27 provinces, besides Beijing, which grew at 6.3%, the same as the national rate, the remaining 11 provinces fell below the national growth rate of 6.3%. They are Chongqing, Gansu, Shanghai, Liaoning, Guangxi, Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Shandong, Hainan, and Tianjin, with 7 of them in the north. In addition, four provinces and regions—Jilin, Heilongjiang, Xinjiang, and Tibet—have not yet released their first-half economic data. Their growth rates in the first quarter were 2.4%, 5.3%, 5.3%, and 9.1%, respectively. If these are used as a reference, in the first half of this year, among the bottom ten in growth rate, except for Hainan, the other nine are all in the north. Chen Yao, vice president and secretary-general of the China Regional Economics Association, believes that from the perspective of economic growth, the most noteworthy areas are mainly Northeast, North China, and parts of Northwest China. Affected by overcapacity in traditional industries, especially resource-based industries and heavy chemical industries, these regions have experienced weak economic growth in recent years. The "problem regions" of regional development have shifted from the central and western regions to the "Three Norths" (Northeast, North China, and Northwest). He believes that the unbalanced development of "strong south, weak north" is a national condition that must be considered when formulating regional development strategies and policies in the new era. Therefore, while continuing to promote coordinated development of the east, middle, and west to narrow the east-west gap, we should also pay attention to the coordination of the south and north, or "coordinate the north, middle, and south." Source: Yicai (ID: cbn-yicai)