China’s regional growth data has underscored the uneven nature of the country’s economic transition in the first half of 2026. Provinces at the forefront of Beijing’s push into high-tech sectors have pulled ahead of those reliant on traditional industries.

High-Tech Manufacturing Drives Growth

Among China’s major provincial-level economies, southern Guangdong, eastern Zhejiang, Shanghai, Anhui, and Shandong were the notable exceptions to the nationwide slowdown. These provinces are heavily exposed to advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, AI-related industries, and high-value exports.

Fifteen of mainland China’s 31 provincial-level economies outpaced the national growth rate of 4.7% in the first half, while 16 lagged behind. Zhejiang, a manufacturing powerhouse, led growth with a 5.7% expansion, followed by Shandong and Anhui provinces and the financial hub Shanghai at 5.6%.

Provinces with greater exposure to property and traditional industries, including Hunan, Jilin, Shanxi, and Liaoning, were among the weakest performers in the first half. Growth in the first half slowed to 2.7% in Hunan, 2.4% in Jilin, 2.1% in Shanxi, and 2.5% in Liaoning.

New Economic Drivers

The diverging growth rates reflect provinces’ differing reliance on old and new economic drivers, with regions more exposed to traditional sectors generally expanding more slowly than those with stronger new-economy industries.

Anhui overtook Hunan to rejoin China’s top 10 provincial economies, with first-half GDP rising to 2.74 trillion yuan ($404.9 billion). Its ascent has been powered by electric vehicles and electronics. Industrial output of high-tech manufacturing surged 44.6%, while auto manufacturing rose 29%.

Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.