(Yicai Global) April 30 -- Southwestern China's provinces of Yunnan  and Guizhou have posted fastest economic growth among those regions  that have released their first-quarter reports so far.

Yunnan province's gross  domestic product grew at a clip of 9.7 percent while that of Guizhou  rose 9.2 percent in the first three months of this year, China National  Radio reported. One half of the 24 administrative regions that have released their reports have logged higher-than-expected GDP growth.

These figures show that  southwestern regions that used to rank lower than the more affluent  eastern China have accelerated their industrial transformation.

Guiyang, the capital of  Guizhou, has become a hub for cloud computing, and digital economy  accounts for over 70 percent of its total GDP, said Yao Jingyuan, a  special researcher at the Counselors' Office under the State Council.

Another climber was  northern Shanxi province, a coal-rich region that has modernized its  industrial mix. The province's GDP was CNY353.3 billion (USD52.4  billion), rising 7.2 percent, 0.5 percentage point stronger from a year  earlier. The number was also 0.9 percentage point higher than this  year's expected annual growth.

Six regions including  northern China's Inner Mongolia, northwest Shaanxi, Qinghai, central  Hunan, southern Guangxi and Hainan logged lower-than-expected economic  growth.

Editor: Emmi Laine