China’s 31 provinces last year’s GDP was released, and the cities with the strongest financial resources were the worst (Photos) -Look at China Net

As the city with the strongest financial resources, Shanghai’s GDP was negative last year. (Image source: Adobe stock)

[Look at China News, January 24, 2023](See comprehensive report by Chinese reporter Wen Long) After the National Bureau of Statistics of China released the economic data for 2022, various provinces and cities successively announced the GDP (gross domestic product) data for last year. As the city with the strongest financial resources, Shanghai’s GDP growth rate was negative last year.

According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics of China on January 17, according to preliminary calculations, the annual GDP (gross domestic product) in 2022 will be 121020.7 billion yuan (RMB, the same below), calculated at constant prices, an increase of 3% over the previous year. From the perspective of per capita level, China’s per capita GDP in 2022 will be 85,698 yuan, a real increase of 3% over the previous year.

After the release of the national GDP data in 2022, various provinces and cities have also released last year’s GDP data one after another. As of now, the 2022 GDP data of China’s 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have all been released.

In terms of total GDP, after Guangdong became China’s first province with a GDP exceeding 12 trillion yuan in 2021, it will approach 13 trillion yuan in 2022, reaching 12911.858 billion yuan. Guangdong has ranked first in the country for 34 consecutive years.

However, it is worth noting that Guangdong’s GDP growth rate last year was only 1.9%.

Jiangsu ranks second. In 2022, the GDP of Jiangsu Province will exceed 12 trillion yuan, reaching 12,287.56 billion yuan. Shandong is 8743.5 billion yuan, ranking third.

As the most financially powerful city in China, Shanghai’s GDP growth rate is negative (-0.2%).

Data source: Statistical departments of various provinces and cities in China. (Image source: Internet)

According to official data, in the first half of 2022, all 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in China will have negative fiscal surpluses. Among them, Shanghai has the smallest gap among all provinces and cities in the country. In the same period of 2021, the fiscal revenue and expenditure data of 31 provinces in the first half of the year show that only Shanghai has a “fiscal surplus”, and the remaining 30 provinces have problems with revenues not covering expenditures.

The Shanghai Municipal State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission issued a notice in June last year, calling on CCP members and cadres to take the lead in donating to support the fight against the epidemic. The notice stated that the Organization Department of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee clearly proposed that the party committees of all districts and the party committees (party groups) of central enterprises in Shanghai should follow the implementation, and encourage party members and cadres of all systems and units to take the lead in donating to support the fight against the epidemic. Employees are also welcome to actively participate.

Observers believe that the unique “clearing” epidemic prevention model of the Beijing authorities and the “closing of the city” in Shanghai have severely damaged the Chinese economy. Shanghai has always been the city with the largest fiscal surplus among the cities with developed industries and commerce in China. The official request for donations can be imagined. What the economy will look like.

At present, China, the world‘s second largest economy, is seeking to shake off the serious economic damage caused by the “zero-zero” epidemic prevention policy in the past three years. Officials acknowledged at the Central Economic Work Conference at the end of last year that the foundation for China’s domestic economic recovery is not yet solid, facing triple pressures of “shrinking demand, shocking supply, and weakening expectations,” and stated that stabilizing economic growth is the top priority in 2023.

Song Weijun, a researcher at the overseas think tank “Tianjun Political Economy”, pointed out that the “clearing” epidemic prevention policy has cleared the Chinese economy and emptied the government’s finances. The public has lost confidence in the CCP’s financial and monetary system, which has led to the inability of currency to fully enter the production and operation of the real economy. The CCP can only stimulate the economy out of thin air or just to make up for the lack of finance.

According to a previous report by Voice of America, Gary Hufbauer, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said: “He (Xi Jinping) needs growth of more than 4% to maintain the legitimacy of the CCP, and the active private sector is The only way to stimulate growth.”

However, some analysts believe that the authorities’ preference for the private economy may have limited actual effect on promoting economic growth, and it remains to be seen whether these favorable momentums can be sustained and implemented into specific policies, because the CCP leadership’s idea of ​​strengthening economic control has not materialized sex change.

Dexter Roberts, senior fellow at the Indo-Pacific Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council think tank, said that Xi Jinping and other top leaders believe that private companies should first follow the party’s instructions and then consider the issue of profitability. This has not changed. “Including sensitive areas like education, which the CCP believes should be firmly under its control, and their relative economic strength, especially compared to state-owned enterprises.”