10 years have passed since the devastating 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, and the hardest-hit areas of southwest China's Sichuan Province have rebuilt themselves after years of hard work, with GDP (gross domestic product) and GDP per capita both tripling in the past decade.[Special coverage]
Remarkable economic output
The 39 earthquake-affected counties in Sichuan Province realized a total GDP of 682.97 billion yuan (107.27 billion U.S. dollars) in 2017, three times the 224.73 billion yuan (35.30 billion U.S. dollars) in 2008.
The average annual growth rate across the counties reached 11.8 percent, 0.8 percentage points higher than Sichuan Province as a whole.
The 10 most seriously affected counties maintained rapid GDP growth, achieving a total GDP of 165.75 billion yuan (26 billion U.S. dollars) in 2017, 3.3 times more than in 2008. Their average annual growth rate was 13.1 percent, 2.1 percentage points higher than the provincial level.
Wenchuan County, the epicenter of the 2008 quake, registered a GDP growth rate of 15.3 percent. Among the other 10 worst-affected counties, Maoxian County, Beichuan County and Pingwu County saw average GDP growth of 15.6, 15.0 and 15.0 percent respectively.
