Eight Chinese provinces saw GDP growth slow in Jan – Sept from first half amid Covid outbreaks, power shortage

 

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Due to the impacts of Covid outbreaks, heatwaves and power shortage, eight Chinese provinces saw GDP growth slow in the first three quarters compared to the first half of the year.

As of November 2, 30 of China 31 provinces had published their GDP growth for the first three quarters. GDP in Shanxi province grew by 5.3% year over year in the nine-month period, Fujian province 5.2%, Inner Mongolia 5% and Jiangxi province 5%, making them the fastest-growing regions in the country during the period.

Five provincial regions including Ningxia, Hunan, Hubei, Gansu and Shandong recorded GDP growth between 4% – 4.9%, while eight regions including Yunnan, Xinjiang, Hebei, Henan, Anhui, Chongqing, Guangxi and Zhejiang saw GDP growth below 4%, though still higher than China’s national GDP growth of 3%.

Twelve provinces saw GDP growth in the nine-month period below the national growth, with Shanghai and Hainan province being the slowest-growing regions with growth of -1.4% and -0.5%, respectively.

Eight provinces including Tibet, Hainan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Chongqing, Xinjiang, Ningxia and Gansu saw GDP growth in the Jan – Sept period slow from the first half of the year. Hainan’s growth slipped into negative territory, contracting 0.5% year over year, compared to 1.6% growth for the first half.

Inner Mongolia, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Jilin, Tianjin and Henan saw GDP growth pick up significantly and Shanghai’s GDP contraction slowed to 1.4%, compared to 5.7% contraction for the first half.

The economic slowdown in some regions was mainly due to the impacts of Covid outbreaks and power supply shortage.

For instance, Hainan and Guizhou, which experienced Covid flare-ups in August and September, saw GDP growth in Jan – Sept slow by 2.1 percentage points and 1.7 percentage points, respectively, from the first half.

Hainan, a popular tourist destination, saw the number of overnight tourists tumble by 53.7% year over year in August and 63.2% in September, sending its retail sales in the Jan – Sept period sliding 7.5% from a year earlier, expanding by 1.6 percentage points from the first half of the year.

Southwest China’s Sichuan province, GDP growth slowed to 1.5% in Jan – Sept from 2.8% growth in the first half, after the region experienced Covid outbreaks, heatwaves, drought, power shortage and earthquakes in the past few months.

In particular, Sichuan’s industrial output fell 11% on year in August, with manufacturing output sliding 16.8% in the month. Its retail sales fell 0.2% on year in Jan – Sept, compared to 0.6% gain in the first half, with catering sales sliding 10.4%, compared to 10% drop in first half.

GDP growth in the neighbouring Chongqing city which also experienced Covid outbreaks, heatwaves and power shortage, slowed to 3.1% in Jan – Sept from 4% in the first half.