(Yicai) April 28 -- Twenty-one of China's 31 provincial-level regions met or exceeded their economic growth target for the first quarter, indicating a strong start to the year.

Hubei province's gross domestic product jumped 6.3 percent to CNY1.35 trillion (USD185 billion) in the three months ended March 31 from a year earlier, the highest increase among the 11 provincial-level regions with annual GDP of over CNY5 trillion.

Among the other 10 major economic provinces, Shandong, Zhejiang, and Anhui posted growth rates of over 6 percent. Jiangsu, Henan, Fujian, and Sichuan outpaced the national average of 5.4 percent, with growth rates of 5.9 percent, 5.9 percent, 5.7 percent, and 5.5 percent, respectively. Shanghai's GDP expanded 5.1 percent, compared with 5 percent a year earlier.

The overall economic development trend across Chinese provincial-level regions was positive in the first quarter, with industrial investment, consumption, foreign trade, and other indicators performing better than expected, an expert from a think tank in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area told Yicai. This has laid the foundations for addressing increasing external uncertainties, the expert added.

The value added of industrial enterprises above the designated size increased in all Chinese provincial-level regions, with Anhui leading the ranking with 9.2 percent, according to official data. The growth for Jiangsu and Shandong reached 8.2 percent, with six other major provincial economies exceeding the national average of 6.5 percent.

China’s value added of the service sector expanded 5.3 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, compared with 5 percent in 2024, with eight major economic provinces outpacing the national average. Fixed asset investment rose in 29 provincial-level regions, with Xizang Autonomous Region and Beijing posting increases of 27.7 percent and 24 percent, respectively.

China's retail sales of consumer goods climbed 4.6 percent to CNY12.47 trillion (USD1.71 trillion) in the period, with 28 provincial-level regions recording growth and 18 of them outperforming the national average.

Twenty provincial-level regions achieved growth in imports and exports, with the seven major ones -- Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Beijing, Shandong, and Fujian -- recording a combined foreign trade value of CNY7.78 trillion, accounting for three-quarters of the country's total.

The GDP ranking remained generally unchanged in the first quarter compared with the same period last year. Shanghai and Liaoning climbed two positions to 18th and 16th, respectively, while Sichuan rose to fifth from sixth. Henan, Hunan, Anhui, Chongqing, and Yunnan all dropped in the ranking.

It is worth noting that Guangdong province, China's largest provincial economy, underperformed in the first quarter, with a growth rate of 4.1 percent from a year earlier, below its 5 percent target. However, the figure was 0.6 percentage point higher than last year's.

Guangdong's 4.1 percent growth is still commendable given its enormous economic scale, Lin Jiang, economics professor at Sun Yat-sen University's Lingnan College, told Yicai. Its increased investment in manufacturing technologies, which increased 7.5 percent in the period, could yield positive results for its industrial and economic performance, Lin added.

Editor: Futura Costaglione