Shenzhen spearheads growth in China

Melody Chen

Shenzhen's gross domestic product reached 3.68 trillion yuan (HK$3.96 trillion) last year, with a year-on-year growth of 5.8 percent, outpacing the national growth rate and leading all first-tier cities, according to data from the Statistics Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality.

Compared to previously disclosed data, Shanghai's GDP reached 5.39 trillion yuan last year, growing 5 percent year-on-year, while Beijing's GDP reached 4.98 trillion yuan, up 5.2 percent.

Another first-tier city, Guangzhou, has yet to disclose its full-year data, but its GDP grew by only 2 percent in the first three quarters, reaching 2.21 trillion yuan.

Shenzhen's growth was driven by a 16.4 percent increase in total imports and exports, contributing 4.5 trillion yuan.

Meanwhile, the city's retail sales of consumer goods surpassed 1 trillion yuan for the second year in a row.