The 2025 GDP rankings for China's 31 provinces have been released, with Chongqing surpassing Liaoning, Tibet leading the nation in growth rate, and western provinces demonstrating strong performance. Liaoning's growth rate ranked at the bottom, highlighting the ongoing transformation challenges in Northeast China. Meanwhile, Jiangsu's economic output is closing in on Guangdong's, indicating robust momentum from the Yangtze River Delta integration.
In terms of economic scale, ranked by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from highest to lowest, the top ten provinces are: Guangdong (14.5847 trillion yuan), Jiangsu (14.2351 trillion yuan), Shandong (10.3197 trillion yuan), Zhejiang (9.4545 trillion yuan), Sichuan (6.7665 trillion yuan), Henan (6.6633 trillion yuan), Hubei (6.2661 trillion yuan), Fujian (6.0199 trillion yuan), Shanghai (5.6709 trillion yuan), and Hunan (5.5309 trillion yuan).
Guangdong province secured the top position with a GDP of 14.58 trillion yuan, marking its 37th consecutive year as the leader. Jiangsu's GDP surpassed the 14 trillion yuan mark for the first time, narrowing the gap with Guangdong. Shandong's GDP also broke through the 10 trillion yuan threshold, becoming the nation's third province to exceed this milestone. Zhejiang, with 9.45 trillion yuan, ranked fourth and is approaching its 10 trillion yuan target.
However, four provinces had GDP totals below 1 trillion yuan: Tibet (276.5 billion yuan), Qinghai (395.1 billion yuan), Ningxia (569.6 billion yuan), and Hainan (810.9 billion yuan).
A notable change compared to the 2024 rankings is that Chongqing overtook Liaoning, rising to the 16th position nationally.
Regarding economic growth rates, the top ten provinces for 2025 GDP growth rate from highest to lowest are: Tibet (7.0%), Gansu (5.8%), Hebei (5.6%), Henan (5.6%), Xinjiang (5.5%), Zhejiang (5.5%), Shandong (5.5%), Sichuan (5.5%), Anhui (5.5%), and Hubei (5.5%).
Tibet led the nation with a 7% growth rate, followed by Gansu in second place with 5.8%. Notably, Shanxi's GDP growth ranking improved from last place in 2024 to third from the bottom in 2025, while Liaoning occupied the bottom position with a growth rate of 3.7%. Although Guangdong had the largest GDP, its growth rate ranking was second from the bottom in 2025.
A particularly striking change in the 2025 GDP rankings was Chongqing's economic output surpassing that of Liaoning, elevating it to 16th place nationally. This was the only change in the provincial rankings compared to 2024.
In recent years, Chongqing has focused on cultivating new quality productive forces, charting a development path centered on "technological innovation + industrial upgrading."
From an industrial structure perspective, intelligent connected new energy vehicles are one of Chongqing's leading industries. In 2025, the added value of Chongqing's intelligent connected new energy vehicle industrial cluster grew by 13.4% compared to the previous year, contributing 60.9% to the growth of industrial enterprises above a designated size. Currently, Chongqing has formed an industrial cluster covering key components for intelligent connected new energy vehicles, led by two major players: Changan Automobile and Seres Group.
According to information from the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology, Chongqing's automobile production reached 2.788 million units in 2025, an increase of 9.7%, firmly holding the top position among cities and third among provinces. Notably, new energy vehicle production reached 1.296 million units, surging by 36%, and the industrial cluster's scale exceeded 800 billion yuan. Chongqing has secured the title of "China's Top Auto City" for the year.
Beyond the automotive industry, Chongqing has also experienced rapid development in sectors like intelligent equipment and robotics in recent years. In 2025, the output of liquid crystal display panels, integrated circuits, photovoltaic cells, industrial robots, and integrated circuit wafers in Chongqing grew by 15.8%, 47.2%, 53.3%, 27.0%, and 14.6% respectively, indicating rapid growth. Furthermore, the software industry developed quickly, with the operating revenue of software and information technology service enterprises above a designated size maintaining a monthly growth rate above 17% throughout 2025.
In addition to the tech sector, consumption has been a crucial engine for Chongqing's economic growth. In 2025, Chongqing vigorously implemented special actions to boost consumption, achieving a total retail sales of consumer goods of 1,668.85 billion yuan for the year, earning it the title of "China's Top Consumption City." Reportedly, Chongqing explored numerous areas in new consumption formats in 2025, including the industrialization of the "silver economy," innovative mechanisms for "first-release economy" and "ticket stub economy," and spatial empowerment for the "mood economy." Industry experts believe that Chongqing's relentless efforts to cultivate new forms of consumption reflect a deep-seated strategy to address challenges, seize opportunities, and enhance the city's overall competitiveness.
It wasn't just Chongqing; multiple western provinces demonstrated outstanding economic growth in 2025. Tibet, Gansu, Xinjiang, Sichuan, Ningxia, and other western provinces saw their GDP growth rates rank among the nation's highest. Tibet led with a 7% growth rate, pushing its regional GDP past 300 billion yuan and crossing two hundred-billion-yuan thresholds within five years. Gansu followed closely with a 5.8% growth rate, ranking second nationally and marking its 16th consecutive quarter of economic growth exceeding the national average.
In recent years, Gansu's economic growth has been characterized by a dual-driver model of "industry + foreign trade." High industrial growth has been the core support for Gansu's rapid economic expansion. In 2025, the value-added of industrial enterprises above a designated size in Gansu increased by 9.5% year-on-year, 3.6 percentage points higher than the national average, ranking third nationally in growth rate. Over the past five years, Gansu's industrial investment maintained double-digit growth for 54 consecutive months, with industry contributing 36.1% to the province's economic growth.
On the trade front, Gansu's imports and exports grew by 16.2% in 2025, 12.4 percentage points higher than the national average, with exports surging 44.5%. Trade with countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative grew by 6.6%, accounting for 70.5% of the province's total foreign trade value.
Industry experts analyze that with the comprehensive expansion of the inland opening-up pattern and the deepening advancement of the Belt and Road Initiative, China's western provinces are poised for even greater development opportunities.
In 2025, Liaoning not only saw its GDP total overtaken by Chongqing but also recorded the lowest growth rate at 3.7%, which was 1.3 percentage points below the national average. In 2024, Shanxi had occupied the bottom position for GDP growth.
As a representative of the old industrial bases in Northeast China, Liaoning's last-place growth rate directly reflects the pains associated with industrial transformation and economic restructuring. Pressure on industrial transformation and upgrading is a major reason for Liaoning's economic slowdown. In 2025, the added value of Liaoning's secondary industry was 1,102.76 billion yuan, with a meager growth rate of only 0.7%, 3.8 percentage points below the national average; the value-added of industrial enterprises above a designated size grew by a mere 0.6% compared to the previous year, 5.3 percentage points lower than the national rate.
At a press conference last July, Han Bing, a member of the Party Leadership Group and Deputy Director of the Liaoning Provincial Development and Reform Commission, candidly addressed the difficulties facing Liaoning's economy. First, industry continues to face pressure; traditional fuel vehicles account for a large proportion in Liaoning, while new energy vehicles have a smaller share. The increasing market demand for new energy vehicles has impacted traditional fuel vehicle producers. Second, influenced by factors like international commodity prices, traditional sectors such as metallurgy and petrochemicals face increasing downward pressure. Third, the real estate market remains in an adjustment period. Fourth, effective investment fell short of expectations, with real estate development investment dropping 25.7%, declining for 39 consecutive months, dragging down the province's overall investment growth by over 5 percentage points. Additionally, foreign trade faces significant uncertainty, the consumption potential of counties needs further stimulation, and the large scale of university graduates continues to create substantial employment pressure.
Despite these challenges, there have been some positive changes. The Liaoning provincial government work report for 2026 listed "enhancing scientific and technological innovation efficiency, and cultivating and strengthening new quality productive forces" as a key annual task, outlining a "construction blueprint" for transformation and upgrading through "building platforms, strengthening entities, and optimizing the ecosystem."
Recently, the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee's Economic Work Conference emphasized focusing on the real economy and striving to build a "2211" industrial system with Liaoning characteristics. The province will focus on promoting the quality upgrade of four trillion-yuan-level industrial bases and implementing special actions to cultivate advanced manufacturing clusters. Centered around 22 advantageous industrial clusters, over 100 industrial chains, and more than 1,000 core enterprises, Liaoning aims to accelerate the formation of a tiered development pattern comprising world-class, national-level, and regional-level clusters.
Beyond industrial transformation, over the past two years, Liaoning has elevated the optimization of its business environment to a level of "vital importance to the overall situation of revitalization and development" and "the most important, most realistic, and most urgent strategic task," demanding that "optimizing the business environment be treated as a lifeline" and "resolutely rectifying behaviors that damage the business environment with thunderous measures." The province is addressing prominent issues raised by businesses and the public from eight key aspects. Some observers believe Liaoning is demonstrating unprecedented determination to break the spell of "investment not crossing Shanhaiguan."
It's not just Liaoning; the entire Northeast region stands at a critical juncture of a new round of transformation and revitalization, experiencing "transformation pains." Multiple experts suggest that the key to Northeast China's revitalization lies in two dimensions: on one hand, fully cultivating new quality productive forces to fundamentally reshape the region's economic structure and competitiveness; on the other hand, it is essential to turn the blade inward, vigorously improve the business environment, and completely break the curse of "investment not crossing Shanhaiguan."
In 2025, Jiangsu's GDP reached 14.23515 trillion yuan, breaking the 14 trillion yuan mark for the first time and narrowing the gap with the leading province, Guangdong. The competition within the leading group of this economic "marathon" is intensifying.
Why is Jiangsu so strong? In the view of industry experts, Jiangsu's competitiveness stems from its solid manufacturing foundation, strong momentum in emerging industries, and is also greatly related to its regionally balanced development and "wolf pack" advancement model.
In manufacturing, the province's high-quality development index for manufacturing has ranked first nationally for five consecutive years, and its integration development level index has been first for ten consecutive years. Fifty-four Jiangsu-based companies were listed among the 2025 China Top 500 Manufacturing Enterprises. Jiangsu has accumulated 14 national-level advanced manufacturing clusters, the highest total in the country. These 14 clusters are evenly distributed, forming an "all-round" industrial system that enhances the economy's resilience to risks.
In recent years, Jiangsu has continued to deepen the construction of its "1650" industrial system, using 16 advanced manufacturing clusters—such as high-end equipment, new materials, and biomedicine—to guide the strengthening, supplementing, and extending of 50 key industrial chains, like integrated circuits and new energy, thereby cultivating and strengthening strategic emerging industries and future industries.
In terms of regional balanced development, Jiangsu has formed a multi-center, balanced development pattern. All 13 prefecture-level cities in Jiangsu are ranked among the top 100 cities nationally, five have economic totals exceeding one trillion yuan, and the per capita GDP disparity between functional areas has narrowed to around 1.8 times. This "wolf pack" model prevents over-reliance on a single core city and unleashes the province's overall growth potential.
Furthermore, Jiangsu is deeply integrated into the Yangtze River Delta integration, leveraging this trend for upgrading. Through synergistic models like "Shanghai R&D + Jiangsu Manufacturing" and the cross-provincial radiation of the Nanjing metropolitan area, Jiangsu can harness the advantages of integrating innovation chains, industrial chains, capital chains, and talent chains.
It's not just Jiangsu; other Yangtze River Delta provinces like Zhejiang and Anhui are also demonstrating strong development. In 2025, Zhejiang ranked fourth in the provincial GDP rankings with 9.45 trillion yuan, nearing its 10 trillion yuan target. Gao Chengyuan, Chairman of Tiaoyuan Consulting, noted that the robust growth momentum of the Yangtze River Delta is closely linked to the rapid advancement of its regional integrated and coordinated development. Particularly notable is the significant industrial synergy within the delta, where cities have complete industrial chains, diversified industrial structures, and a rich variety of industrial entities. The industrial development of major cities features both distinct characteristics and close interconnections. "In the Yangtze River Delta, it's not about who tries harder, but about turning 'neighbors' into 'departments'; the level of cooperation and coordination between cities is very high."
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that the Yangtze River Delta regional development index reached 135.0 in 2024 (using 2015 as the base period), an increase of 2.6 from 2023. Since the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta was elevated to a national strategy in 2018, the regional development index has increased by an average of 3.3 points annually.
Additionally, the Yangtze River Delta regional demonstration and leadership index has increased year by year, reaching 129.8 in 2024, up 2.4 from 2023, with an average annual increase of 2.3 since 2018. In 2024, the Yangtze River Delta region achieved high-quality economic development, fully exerting its demonstrative and leading role. The regional economic scale continued to expand, achieving a regional GDP of 33.17 trillion yuan, 1.5 times that of 2018 (calculated at current prices), accounting for 24.7% of the national total, an increase of 0.1 percentage points from 2023.
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