As the new year unfolds, China's economic report card for 2025 is gradually being revealed. With the national economic aggregate surpassing a new threshold of 140 trillion yuan, China's urban and regional economies are also achieving new leaps—witnessing the expansion of "5-trillion-yuan cities" and "10-trillion-yuan provinces." Beijing's economic output has exceeded 5 trillion yuan for the first time, becoming China's second "5-trillion-yuan city" after Shanghai. Shandong Province has surpassed the 10-trillion-yuan mark for the first time, following Guangdong and Jiangsu to become the third province with an annual GDP exceeding 10 trillion yuan. Dalian and Wenzhou have both crossed the trillion-yuan threshold, bringing the total number of "trillion-yuan cities" in China to 29. These milestones represent more than just numerical increases; they vividly demonstrate the resilience and high-quality development of the Chinese economy amidst complex conditions, serving as clear markers of the upward trajectory in China's urban and regional development. Some observers note that "the benchmark for China's urban and regional economies is being continually raised, with new high points continuously emerging on the economic landscape." A comparative perspective offers more intuitive insight: "10-trillion-yuan provinces" now rank among the world's top fifteen economies, demonstrating substantial strength; Beijing and Shanghai, as China's "5-trillion-yuan cities," place within the global top ten urban economies, with their influence and presence rising correspondingly. While the expansion of economic scale is encouraging, the enhancement of development quality is even more valuable. Consider Beijing, the newly minted "5-trillion-yuan city," and the two dynamic curves behind its self-transcendence. One curve tracks industrial structure upgrading: the three engines of new quality productive forces—information services, scientific and technological services, and advanced manufacturing—are roaring ahead, increasing their share of GDP by 6 percentage points over five years. The information services sector, in particular, has maintained a growth rate of crossing a hundred-billion-yuan threshold annually. The other curve shows rising innovation intensity: in recent years, Beijing's intensity of full society R&D expenditure has remained stable at around 6%, ranking among the top global innovative cities, with an average of over 300 technology companies being born each day. For comparison, the average R&D intensity for cities in the European Union is approximately 2%. These two curves also reflect the determined pace of China's economy in advancing high-quality development. Over the past five years, China's new quality productive forces have grown steadily, its innovation index ranking has entered the global top ten for the first time, the value-added of large-scale high-tech manufacturing has achieved an average annual growth of 9.2%, and digital technologies like artificial intelligence and 5G have flourished, empowering countless industries. Entering a new stage of development, the factor conditions, combination methods, and allocation efficiency of China's economic development are improving daily, accumulating powerful momentum for future growth. In the view of many analysts, the Chinese economy possesses robust momentum, exhibiting the strongest development certainty among major world economies, making its continued economic expansion unquestionable. In this process, more cities will cross the "trillion-yuan" threshold and more provinces will surpass the "ten-trillion-yuan" mark. Growing the economic "pie" is key to solving development challenges. Simultaneously, the expansion of economic scale is being steadily translated into tangible gains in the ledger of people's livelihoods, making China's economic growth more perceptible and relatable in the happiness of countless households and the warmth of daily life. In Shandong, behind the 10-trillion-yuan economic scale, over 75% of fiscal expenditure is consistently directed towards民生 fields such as education, healthcare, and social security. In Beijing, "5 trillion yuan" signifies not only the concentration of high-end and sophisticated industries but also steady growth in resident incomes, continuous consumption upgrades, and the ongoing renewal of public service facilities. In newly promoted "trillion-yuan cities" like Dalian and Wenzhou, economic growth is transforming into more inclusive public services and urban renewal, allowing every citizen to feel improvements "right at their doorstep." The ultimate goal of economic development is the comprehensive development of people. The true significance of continually crossing the trillion-yuan threshold lies not only in making China's economic foundation more stable and resilient to risks but also in enabling better individual growth and more effectively fulfilling people's pursuit of a happy life. From provinces to cities, from aggregate breakthroughs to structural optimization, this trillion-yuan advancement embodies the confidence of a major economy and the original aspiration of development for the people. Standing at the beginning of the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, with each region leveraging its strengths and contributing its efforts, moving in the same direction and resonating in harmony, powerful currents of developmental momentum continue to converge, promising that the Chinese economy will present even more vibrant and promising prospects for the times.
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