The first quarter economic performance reports of all 31 provinces in China have been released. Data shows that in the first quarter of this year, major economic provinces took the lead, with Shandong, Zhejiang and other major economic provinces stabilizing the national economic foundation with their large scale and high growth rate. At the same time, the potential of the western region has accelerated to release, and the GDP (gross domestic product) growth rate of Xizang and Gansu is in the forefront, reaching 6.1% and 5.9% respectively. From the perspective of growth momentum, high-tech industries in multiple provinces have maintained rapid growth, and the new quality productivity engine is strong. Data shows that in the first quarter, major economic provinces continued to play a "ballast stone" role, and the pattern of "carrying the big beam" remained stable. In terms of total economic output, in the first quarter, Guangdong and Jiangsu led the country with a GDP of over 3 trillion yuan, while Shandong and Zhejiang both had a GDP of over 2 trillion yuan, followed by Sichuan and Henan both with a GDP of over 1.5 trillion yuan. From the perspective of economic growth rate, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the national GDP in the first quarter of 2026 will increase by 5% year-on-year. According to the first quarter reports of various regions, the GDP growth rate of 15 provinces in the first quarter is not less than 5%. Especially among the top 10 economic provinces in terms of GDP, 8 provinces had GDP growth rates exceeding 5% in the first quarter. Among them, the GDP growth rates of Shandong and Zhejiang in the first quarter both reached 6%, tied for second place in the country. It is worth mentioning that as the "Double First" province in terms of population and economy in China, Guangdong's GDP growth rate in the first quarter was 4.6%, slightly lower than the national growth rate. However, data from the Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Statistics shows that this growth rate has increased by 0.5 and 0.7 percentage points respectively compared to the same period in 2025 and the full year growth rate in 2025. The growth rates of industry, investment, and foreign trade have all significantly rebounded, consolidating the "foundation" of economic growth. Western provinces are also making efforts, with many 'economic dark horses' performing outstandingly. Among them, Xizang leads the country with a GDP growth rate of 6.1%, while Gansu and Qinghai are higher than the national average with a growth rate of 5.9% and 5.4% respectively. Overall, the economy of various provinces continued to rebound and improve in the first quarter, with most major provinces outperforming the country in terms of economic growth rate, stabilizing the overall economic situation. Only Guangdong's economic growth rate in the first quarter was lower than the national average, but the gap with the national growth rate narrowed to 0.4 percentage points, setting the smallest gap in the same period in nearly five years. Later developing provinces also continue to enhance their development resilience. ”Chief Economist of Yuekai Securities, Luo Zhiheng, told reporters. Compared to volume and growth rate, the driving force of economic growth is also worth paying attention to as new quality productivity becomes a new engine for growth. In the first quarter, China's investment in high-tech industries grew 7.4% year on year, 5.7 percentage points higher than the national fixed assets investment (excluding farmers). Multiple quarterly reports show that new quality productivity has become a new engine driving economic growth. Among them, with the boom of artificial intelligence driving the development of related industrial chains, many provinces have benefited from it. According to statistics from reporters, at least 13 provinces mentioned their achievements in the development of integrated circuits in their "first quarter reports", showing a positive overall growth trend. For example, thanks to favorable factors such as the explosion of AI computing power, Chongqing's power semiconductor and integrated circuit, AI and robot industry clusters have grown by 50.9% and 58.2% respectively; The wave of artificial intelligence in Guangdong has driven rapid growth in the electronics industry, with the manufacturing of computers, communications, and other electronic devices growing by 13.4%, maintaining double-digit growth and driving a 3.6 percentage point increase in the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size in Guangdong Province, with a contribution rate of over 60%; The added value of Beijing's integrated circuit manufacturing industry above designated size increased by 61.5%; The production of integrated circuits in Shanxi Province has increased by 32.3 times. This year, the global demand for artificial intelligence devices has exploded, driving high growth in the export of integrated circuits and other electromechanical products, promoting profit expansion in the electronics and communication manufacturing industry, and enhancing the willingness of enterprises to expand investment and reproduction. ”Luo Zhiheng said. At the same time, the new energy vehicle industry has injected strong momentum into the economic growth of multiple provinces. For example, the production of new energy vehicles in Beijing increased by 44% in the first quarter, while the output value of the new energy vehicle industry in Shanghai increased by 34.9%. In addition, despite a 11.2% decrease in automobile production in the first quarter, Liaoning's production of new energy vehicles increased by 24.0%, becoming an important lever for the transformation of old industrial bases. In the view of Yuan Haixia, President of the China Chengxin International Research Institute, the multiple outbreaks of new quality productivity cannot be separated from the joint drive of policies, demand, and industrial upgrading. From a domestic perspective, China is currently in an important period of consumption upgrading, accelerating the technological iteration and commercialization process of new quality productivity fields such as artificial intelligence and humanoid robots. From the perspective of the international market, the continuous release of green transformation and high-end demand has directly promoted enterprises in the fields of new energy, automobiles, high-end equipment, etc. to expand production capacity and increase investment in technology research and development. At the same time, foreign trade has shown strong momentum in many regions in the first quarter, and high-level opening-up continues to release development momentum. In the first quarter, Guangdong's foreign trade reached a new high, leading the country with a growth rate of 19.4%. Among them, the exports of integrated circuits, lithium batteries, and ships increased by 63.4%, 65.5%, and 70.7% respectively; In the first quarter, Zhejiang's export scale reached the trillion yuan mark for the first time in history. Among them, the exports of electric vehicles and lithium batteries increased by 90.7% and 124.2% respectively year-on-year. Progress has been made in the transformation and upgrading of the domestic manufacturing industry, which continues to play a driving role in the export of new energy vehicles and high-tech products. ”Feng Lin, Executive Director of the Research and Development Department of Dongfang Jincheng, said. In addition, as a new highland of China's institutional opening-up, the institutional dividends of Hainan Free Trade Port are accelerating. In the first quarter, the total import and export volume of goods in Hainan was 84.53 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 38.5%. As a key logistics hub for the opening up of Hainan Free Trade Port, the container throughput of Yangpu Port in Hainan reached 983700 TEUs in the first quarter, a year-on-year increase of 94.37%. Experts say that the continuous promotion of institutional innovations such as the closure and operation of Hainan Free Trade Port has increased the policy support received by foreign trade enterprises, giving them more confidence in expanding markets, stabilizing orders, and increasing efficiency. (Looking into the New Era)