14 Chinese cities boast over 1 trillion yuan of GDP

According to the local annual reports, 14 Chinese cities now belong in the 1 trillion yuan (US$157.4 billion) GDP club, including the two newest members -- Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, with an estimated GDP of 1.05 trillion yuan , and Changsha, Hunan Province, with an estimated GDP of 1.02 trillion yuan. 

Wuxi and Changsha hit the 1 trillion yuan GDP mark

Since the 2008 financial crisis, Wuxi has managed to achieve a nominal GDP growth for up to 14 percent and a real GDP growth of 7.4 percent in 2017 after years of industrial upgrading and structural reform. This was the first time in five years that Wuxi's real GDP growth had surpassed the provincial average. 

Meanwhile, high-tech companies such as Huawei, Alibaba, and Tencent are making considerable investment, while the city is home to flagship projects for the research, development, and manufacturing of integrated circuits and large silicon chips. 

The GDP of Changsha, another new member of the 1 trillion yuan GDP club, has increased about 9 percent in 2017 to reach 1.02 trillion yuan. The city relied substantially on equipment manufacturing, cultural industry, medicine and automobile to take the lead over 30 first and second tier cities in China in terms of economic growth. In recent years, many equipment manufacturing companies like Sany Heavy Industry and Zoomlion sprang up in Changsha, and the city also reached a new stage in smart manufacturing. 

GDP figures of all first-tier cities surpass 2 trillion yuan

Before Changsha and Wuxi, 12 other cities have joined the 1 trillion yuan GDP club over the years. Shanghai was the first in 2006, followed by Beijing in 2008 and Guangzhou in 2010. Shenzhen, Tianjin, Suzhou, and Chongqing crossed the milestone together in 2011. Chengdu and Wuhan joined in 2014. In 2015, Hangzhou made the list, while Nanjing and Qingdao became members in 2016. 

Geographically, 10 of the 14 cities are located in east China, while China's central and western regions each claim two. By province, Jiangsu Province has the most listed cities -- Suzhou, Nanjing and Wuxi -- followed by Guangdong Province. Shenzhen and Guangzhou in Guangdong are both first-tier cities that have passed the 2 trillion yuan GDP mark in 2016 and 2017, respectively. By 2017, all first-tier cities have achieved GDPs of over 2 trillion yuan.