Chinanews client, Beijing, July 22 (Reporter Li Jinlei) Semi-annual economic reports of various provinces have been released one after another. As of July 21, at least 25 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities across the country have released economic data for the first half of 2020. Among them, 14 provinces achieved economic growth from negative to positive. Guangdong's GDP still ranks first in the country, but the gap with Jiangsu, which ranks second, has narrowed significantly.

GDP in the first half of the 25 provinces. Drawing: Li Jinlei

Economic semi-annual reports for 25 provinces released

  According to the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on July 16, preliminary calculations showed that the gross domestic product in the first half of the year was 4,566.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 1.6% at comparable prices. In terms of quarters, the first quarter fell by 6.8% year-on-year and the second quarter increased by 3.2%. Economic growth in the second quarter turned from negative to positive.

  Since then, the semi-annual economic reports of various regions have also been released.

  As of July 21, according to incomplete statistics from China News, at least Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shandong, Zhejiang, Henan, Sichuan, Fujian, Hunan, Anhui, Hubei, Beijing, Shaanxi, Jiangxi, Chongqing, Yunnan, Guangxi, Guizhou , Inner Mongolia, Tianjin, Jilin, Hainan, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shanxi, Gansu and other 25 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities released economic data for the first half of the year.

  Under the impact of the epidemic, what are the subtle changes in the economic landscape of each province? May wish to look at the two dimensions of GDP and GDP growth.

GDP creative map.

Guangdong's total GDP is still the first

  In terms of total GDP, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Shandong still occupy the top three.

  Guangdong's GDP in the first half of the year was 4,922.42 billion yuan, down 2.5% year-on-year; Jiangsu's GDP in the first half of the year was 4,672.292 billion yuan, an increase of 0.9% year-on-year; Shandong's GDP in the first half of the year was 3,302.58 billion yuan, down 0.2% year-on-year.

  Although Guangdong still occupies the first place, its economy still grew negatively in the first half of the year, while the second-ranked Jiangsu economy took the lead in turning from negative to positive in the first half of the year. As a result, the GDP gap between Jiangsu and Guangdong has narrowed a lot.

  Statistics show that the gap between Jiangsu's GDP and Guangdong's GDP in the first half of 2019 was 373.7 billion yuan, and the gap was reduced to 251.1 billion yuan in the first half of this year, and Jiangsu suddenly narrowed the gap of more than 120 billion yuan.

  Why is this happening? The answer can be found from industry growth.

  In the first half of the year, both the primary and tertiary industries in Guangdong and Jiangsu achieved positive growth, while in the secondary industry, Guangdong fell by 6.2% year-on-year, while Jiangsu only fell by 0.2%. At the same time, Guangdong's imports and exports in the first half of the year fell by 7.1% year-on-year, while Jiangsu only fell 2.8% year-on-year.

  It can be seen that with the spread of the global epidemic and sluggish external demand, Guangdong, as a major foreign trade province, has been more affected, and exports have declined, making Guangdong's manufacturing enterprises unable to use full capacity, and economic growth has been dragged down by the secondary industry.

  In 2019, the total GDP of Guangdong exceeded the 10 trillion mark for the first time, and the GDP of Jiangsu Province in 2019 was 9963.152 billion, which is only one step away from the 10 trillion mark. Now standing in the middle of the year, the question left to the two major economic provinces is: Can GDP in 2020 exceed 10 trillion yuan?

The picture shows the production scene in an enterprise in Yancheng, Jiangsu. China News Agency reporter Tuobo

Economic growth in 14 provinces turned from negative to positive

  From the perspective of GDP growth, the economic growth of the 14 provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Fujian, Hunan, Anhui, Jiangxi, Chongqing, Yunnan, Guangxi, Guizhou, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Gansu has changed from negative to positive.

  Among these 25 provinces, regions and cities, Guizhou and Gansu had the highest GDP growth rate of 1.5% in the first half of the year.

  According to the Guizhou Bureau of Statistics, Guizhou Province has shifted from a 1.9% decline in the first quarter to a 1.5% growth in the first half of the year. It is one of the provinces in the country where the economy has recovered well, and the growth rate remains the highest in the country.

  In addition, the GDP growth rate of the provinces of Guangdong, Hainan, Beijing, Inner Mongolia, Tianjin, and Hubei in the first half of the year was lower than the national GDP growth rate.

  Among them, Hubei, which was most affected by the epidemic, experienced a year-on-year GDP decline of 19.3% in the first half of the year. However, its decline narrowed by 19.9 percentage points from the first quarter.

  At present, Hubei's economy is also showing a recovery trend, with some economic indicators turning from negative to positive. The monthly growth rate of industrial production accelerated from the low point at the beginning of the year. In May, the planned industrial added value turned from negative to positive. In June, it maintained a steady growth trend, increasing by 2% for two consecutive months. The leading indicators performed well. Industrial power consumption turned positive and increased by 0.3%, which was 27.0 percentage points faster than that in March. Freight volume increased by 11.1%, an acceleration of 6.6% year-on-year. (Finish)