Many localities in Fujian Province have recently published first-quarter GDP this year. In terms of the size of the GDP, Quanzhou and Fuzhou as the two giants continue to dominate the ranking, ahead of two robust and fastest-growing cities, namely Xiamen and Zhangzhou, then by Putian, Longyan, Sanming, Ningde, Nanping and Pingtan Comprehensive Experimental Zone successively.

Table of GDP and Growth Rate of the First Quarter of 2022 in the Nine Cities and One Zone in Fujian Province

In terms of growth rate, the first-quarter GDP growth rate of Fujian Province  reached 6.7% in this year, higher than the national average (4.8%). Among the nine cities and one zone of Fujian Province, Ningde City enjoys the fastest growth; except for Quanzhou, Sanming and Nanping, the growth rate of GDP in other prefecture-level cities are all higher than the provincial and national average.

"Two giants" dominating the ranking: Quanzhou temporarily holding a lead of exceed ten billion yuan over Fuzhou

As two economically leading cities of Fujian Province, Fujian and Quanzhou had both stepped into the 1-trillion-yuan GDP club in 2020. Quanzhou, as a city heavily dependent on the private sector of the economy, had stayed atop the GDP ranking of Fujian Province for 22 consecutive years. However, Fuzhou overtook Quanzhou and rose to the top of the ranking for the first time in last year.

In the first quarter of this year, both Fuzhou and Quanzhou has faced the grave and complex COVID-19 pandemic, particularly Quanzhou. Since the local outbreak starting in mid-March, Quanzhou had experienced slowdown in economic and social development, and work and production were not resumed until early April. Despite the impacts of the pandemic, Quanzhou still temporarily holds a lead of exceed ten billion yuan over Fuzhou in terms of the GDP in the first quarter of this year. Another index shows that Fuzhou and Quanzhou go hand-in-hand, the GDP growth rate of Quanzhou in the first quarter reached 7.5%, higher than the provincial and national average; while Quanzhou's growth rate was 4%, currently lower than the provincial and national average.

Driven by the new energy industry, Ningde maintaining the fastest growth rate in the province

It worth to mention that Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL)  is a very important guarantee of new energy industry in Ningde, and the development of Ningde has huge potential in recent years. Last year, Ningde's GDP rose to the fifth place and its growth rate ranked top (13.3%) in the province. The latter index has ranked top in the province for three consecutive years.

In the first quarter of this year, Ningde continued to maintain a relatively robust development momentum with its GDP growth rate reaching two digits (10.1%). Its growth rate ranked first in the province and Ningde was the province's only prefecture-level city with a growth rate of two digits. 

Industrial data shows that the new energy industry has played a prominent role in driving Ningde's GDP growth in the first quarter: the value-added of the lithium battery new energy industry was up by 44.8% year-on-year, driving up the value-added of the city's industry above designated size by 20.7 %, contribution rate of 79.6%; the new energy vehicle industry grew by 15.5% year-on-year, driving up the city's growth by 0.6 %.