Top 30 City GDPs of 2025 Announced! Wenzhou and Dalian Newly Enter the "Trillion" Club; Foshan Experiences Negative Growth?

As Quanzhou announced its 2025 economic data on February 4, the rankings of China’s top 30 cities by GDP in 2025 were determined. Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen still occupy the top three spots, but overall, China’s trillion-yuan cities continue to expand. Wenzhou and Dalian became the third and the first trillion-yuan cities in Zhejiang and Northeast China, respectively, bringing the total number of trillion-yuan cities to 29.

Specifically, Wenzhou’s GDP in 2025 rose to 10.214 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.1%, making it the third trillion-yuan city in Zhejiang, the tenth in the Yangtze River Delta, and the 28th nationwide. With this, Zhejiang Province has formed a development pattern of three pillars: North Zhejiang (Hangzhou), East Zhejiang (Ningbo), and South Zhejiang (Wenzhou).

As an important industrial and port city in Northeast China, Dalian’s GDP in 2025 increased to 10.002 trillion yuan, a 5.7% growth year-on-year, becoming the first trillion-yuan city in Liaoning and the entire Northeast region. Niu Fengrui, former director of the Institute of Urban Development and Environment at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, pointed out that for a city, surpassing a trillion yuan in GDP is not just a numerical milestone but also signifies its regional radiation and driving capacity. This is especially important for the Northeast, which is at a critical stage of revitalization.

Following Wenzhou and Dalian, Xuzhou is the most likely to become the next trillion-yuan city. In 2025, Xuzhou’s GDP grew by 5.8% year-on-year, reaching 9.957 trillion yuan, just one step away from crossing the 10 trillion mark. In 2026, with only a 0.4% growth, Xuzhou’s GDP could smoothly surpass 10 trillion. As the city with the strongest economic strength in northern Jiangsu, Xuzhou has long ranked sixth in GDP within the province, with Suzhou, Nanjing, Wuxi, Nantong, and Changzhou all having already become trillion-yuan cities.

In terms of growth rate, among the top 30 cities by GDP, Tangshan had the highest growth at 6.2%; Hefei, Yantai, and Wenzhou followed closely behind at 6.1%. Guangzhou, Changsha, and Dongguan had relatively lower growth rates, all at 4.0%. Xi’an, Tianjin, and Ningbo also had growth rates below 5%, at 4.7%, 4.8%, and 4.9%, respectively.

Regarding ranking changes, compared to the previous year, most cities maintained their positions, with only five cities experiencing changes. Foshan’s GDP ranking dropped two places, currently ranking 22nd, surpassed by Xi’an and Quanzhou. Additionally, Dalian and Xuzhou are now ranked 29th and 30th, respectively, swapping positions from last year.

It is worth noting that, so far, Foshan has not announced its 2025 GDP growth rate. During the sixth session of the 16th People’s Congress of Foshan held on February 2, it was revealed that Foshan’s total GDP in 2025 would reach 13.2 trillion yuan, but no mention of the growth rate was made. Data shows that in 2024, Foshan’s GDP was 13.362 trillion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of only 1.3%. Compared to 2024, Foshan’s GDP in 2025 decreased by approximately 162 billion yuan.

(Article source: Oriental Fortune Research Center)