(Yicai) April 8 -- Nearly three-quarters of the Chinese cities whose gross domestic product exceeds CNY1 trillion (USD136.8 billion) and collectively generate over 40 percent of the country's economic output outstripped the national average for industrial production in the first two months of the year.

Xi'an, Hefei, and Yantai topped the leaderboard among the 19 of 27 CNY1 trillion-cities that outstripped the country’s mean industrial production in January and February, according to official figures. The output of industrial enterprises with at least CNY20 million (USD2.7 million) in annual revenue, in those three cities rose 16.4 percent, 13.4 percent, and 10.2 percent, respectively.

The equivalent figures jumped 9.3 percent in Qingdao and Zhengzhou, 8 percent in Changzhou, Jinan, Nantong, Suzhou, and Fuzhou, over 7 percent in Quanzhou, Tangshan, Wuxi, and Chengdu, more than 6 percent in Changsha, Dongguan, Beijing, and Ningbo, and 6 percent in Nanjing.

China's industrial production climbed 5.9 percent over the first two months, compared with a 5.8 percent increase for the whole of last year, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

Xi'an's growth in industrial production was mainly driven by the new energy vehicle industry, Hao Yuanxiao, a professor at Xi'an Jiaotong University's School of Economics and Finance, told Yicai. Some 1.12 million NEVs rolled off assembly lines in the city last year and that output has continued to grow significantly this year, Hao added.

The NEV and electronic information industries have become urban growth engines, according to data from Xi'an and Hefei, with the former sector turning into the main driving force for growth in major cities.

Vehicle production in Xi'an surged 56 percent in the first two months from a year earlier, with NEV output soaring 69 percent and the added value of the auto industry jumping 47 percent, according to numbers from the local Bureau of Statistics.

The rapid growth of Hefei's leading industries is due to domestic and external demand, with the city's foreign trade reaching CNY64 billion (USD8.7 billion) in January and February, up 24.6 percent from a year ago, data from the city's commerce bureau showed. In comparison, China's foreign trade fell 1.2 percent, while that of Anhui province, where Hefei is the capital city, climbed 14.8 percent.

The growth of industrial output in the first two months was good, but its sustainability will depend on changes in demand brought by the external environment and the development of new technologies and products, Hao noted.

Editor: Martin Kadiev