Provincial Q1 GDP data adds to slowdown concerns

China's resource-dependent and manufacturing-heavy provinces suffered the sharpest growth slowdown in the first quarter as the government pushed to reduce overcapacity and pollution, adding to signs of protracted weakness in the economy, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

Annual economic growth in North China's Hebei Province, the nation's top steel producer, tumbled to 4.2 percent in the first quarter of 2014 from 8.2 percent in the previous quarter, according to data released by government websites and official newspapers.

North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, which provides one-third of the coal supply in the country, saw GDP growth dipping to 7.3 percent in the first quarter from 9.9 percent a year earlier.

Growth in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province was 4.1 percent in the first quarter, the lowest among 30 of 31 provinces and municipalities, according to the data.

Northwest China's Shaanxi Province has yet to publish its first-quarter growth data.

Economic growth was 5.5 percent in North China's Shanxi Province, a major coal producing province which has been hit by slumping coal prices.

First-quarter growth in almost all Chinese provinces and municipalities was below their annual targets, according to local media.

The government has stepped up efforts to rein in sectors with excessive capacity and heavy polluters, even as it has hastened construction of railways and affordable housing in a bid to underpin growth, while the central bank has cut its required reserve ratios for rural banks.

"The move [on overcapacity and pollution] is having a big impact on economic growth, but we see some signs of stabilization due to recent policy support," said Li Heng, an economist at Minsheng Securities in Beijing.