(Ecsn.cn) -- According to the latest statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), China's economy expanded by 9.6% since the previous year in the first half of 2011. As provinces on China's east coast are gradually transforming their economic development pattern and adjusting their economic structure, western China has achieved a significantly higher gross domestic product (GDP) growth than eastern regions in the first half of this year, indicating a more balanced development in the country.
Except for Xinjiang, Tibet, and Guizhou, 28 provinces and municipalities experienced a slowdown in economic growth compared to that of last year, especially regions around the Yangtze River Delta and the Bohai Sea rim region.
Economy's growth drivers shifted to western regions
Comparing the GDP performance of China's 31 provinces and cities for the first half of 2011, Beijing, Shanghai, and Zhejiang Province placed last on the list, while Chongqing, Guizhou, and Inner Mongolia registered the best performance, with GDP growth all exceeding 15%.
In most of the regions, the GDP growth was higher than the national average of 9.6% over the same period. The provincial GDP growth in the first half proved that the economy's growth drivers have shifted to China's western regions.
Among them, 14 provinces in China's western and south-central provinces achieved more than 13% GDP growth in the first half of the year to June 30. However, economic growth in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, the four most developed cities in China, slowed to less than 10% in the first six months of this year. Zhejiang, Shanghai, and Beijing were among the lowest with 9.9%, 8.4%, and 8.0% GDP growth, respectively. Meanwhile, central provinces including Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, and Shanxi recorded economic growth above 13% on average.
Apart from Tianjin, one of China's four direct-controlled municipalities, which was the fastest-growing region across the nation with a 16.6% increase, the most rapid growth rates belong to central and western regions.
Inner Mongolia was the fifth-best performing region in H1, recording a GDP growth of 15%. Chongqing ranked second in GDP performance with a growth rate of 16.5% thanks to policies aimed at attracting investment to China's interior regions. Guizhou, one of China's poorest provinces, led all other provinces and cities with 15.3% growth.
