Recently, various regions have successively released GDP data for the first quarter of this year. As of now, the GDP data of all 31 provinces have been released. In terms of total GDP, 13 provinces have exceeded one trillion yuan, with Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Shandong continuing to rank among the top three; In terms of growth, 15 provinces outperformed or equaled the national growth line of 5.0%, with Xizang, Shandong, Zhejiang, Shanghai and Beijing leading the way; Focusing on cities, the performance of first tier cities is particularly impressive, with Shanghai and Beijing both exceeding one trillion yuan, and Guangzhou's growth rate reaching a new high in nearly five years. According to expert analysis, top provinces are developing new quality productive forces according to local conditions, traditional industries are stabilizing and optimizing, and strategic emerging industries are accelerating their growth, providing important support for regional and national economic growth. When there are changes in the rankings of multiple provinces, let's first look at the total amount - in the first quarter of this year, 13 out of 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities had a GDP exceeding 1 trillion yuan. Among them, Guangdong ranks first with 3.5 trillion yuan, followed closely by Jiangsu with 3.45 trillion yuan, and Shandong ranks third with 2.48 trillion yuan. Looking at the growth rate again - according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the national GDP in the first quarter of this year was 33.4 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.0% at constant prices. Among the 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities, 15 have GDP growth rates that reach or exceed the national growth rate of 5.0%. Among them, the growth rates of provinces and cities such as Shandong, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Shanghai, Anhui, and Beijing have significantly exceeded the national level. The first quarter data of 31 provinces this year shows regional differentiation characteristics. The 15 provinces with growth rates faster than or equal to the national average are mainly located in the eastern and central regions, while the 16 provinces with growth rates slower than the national average are mainly located in the western and northeastern regions. In the western region, four provinces, including Xizang, Gansu, Sichuan and Qinghai, grew faster than the national growth rate. Overall, the economic growth rate in the eastern region is faster than that in the western region. In the context of differentiated growth rates, the rankings of some provinces have also changed. Jiangxi's GDP has surpassed Shaanxi and risen to the 14th place in the country. In the first quarter, Jiangxi's GDP was 85.735 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.0% at constant prices; Shaanxi's GDP was 845.762 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.0% at constant prices. Chongqing surpasses Liaoning and ranks 16th. In the first quarter of this year, Chongqing's GDP was RMB 792.349 billion, a year-on-year increase of 4.5% at constant prices; Liaoning's GDP is 77.88 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 2.8% calculated at constant prices. Guizhou has surpassed Shanxi and risen to 21st place. In the first quarter of this year, Shanxi's GDP was 57.949 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.2% at constant prices; Guizhou's GDP is 58.6743 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 4.7% at constant prices. The leading role of first tier cities is clearly focused on cities. With the release of economic data for the first quarter of 2026 in Nanjing on April 29, the top 10 cities in terms of GDP for the first quarter of this year have been confirmed. Looking at the ranking, Guangzhou has returned to fourth place. In the first quarter of this year, Guangzhou's GDP reached 798.888 billion yuan, while Chongqing's was 792.349 billion yuan. Guangzhou surpassed Chongqing and returned to the fourth largest city in China in terms of GDP. The GDP gap between Chengdu, Nanjing and the top ranked Suzhou and Wuhan is only 10 billion yuan, which has the possibility of further narrowing the gap or even surpassing it. The gap between Ningbo ranked 11th and Nanjing ranked 10th is not significant. Looking at the growth rate, except for Chongqing's GDP growth rate of 4.5% and Nanjing's 5.5%, the GDP growth rates of the other eight cities are all above 5.6%, significantly higher than the national average. Overall, these cities not only have a high total volume, but also maintain a high growth rate. The leading role of first tier cities is evident. In the first quarter of this year, Guangzhou ranked first among the four first tier cities with a growth rate of 6.0%, marking the first time in five years that it has outperformed both the national and provincial growth rates. The growth rates of Beijing and Shanghai were 5.9%, while Shenzhen's growth rate was 5.8%. Among them, Shanghai achieved the fastest quarterly growth rate in the past five years, while Beijing and Shenzhen were both higher than the same period last year and the whole year of last year. Jia Ruoxiang, Director of the Comprehensive Research Office of the Institute of Land Development and Regional Economy of the National Development and Reform Commission, told our reporter that the good momentum of the economy in first tier cities has a significant guiding effect and spillover effect on the overall development of the country. First tier cities promote cross regional integration and interaction of innovation chains and industrial chains, radiating and driving the accelerated development of other regions, forming a development trend of hierarchical development and regional linkage, continuously releasing the advantages of China's large space for regional spatial maneuvering, accelerating the transformation of regional development gradient differences into new high-quality development spaces, which is conducive to the formation of a multi center support, multi-level linkage, and networked development trend, and enhancing the resilience of China's high-quality economic development. What development logic is hidden behind the recovery of domestic demand and strong industrial support, as well as changes in GDP data? Looking at the growth logic of top provinces, the recovery of domestic demand has become a key driving force. Jia Ruoxiang stated that top provinces are continuously expanding new investment and consumption scenarios and cultivating new economic growth points in accordance with the national "dual" and "two new" policies. In the first quarter of this year, the total retail sales of consumer goods in China increased by 2.4%, with consumption growth rates in seven provinces including Zhejiang, Sichuan, Shanghai, Henan, Guangdong, Shandong, and Fujian exceeding the national average. Investment also played a significant role. fixed assets investment in Shanghai grew by 7.6%, while fixed assets investment in Sichuan and Zhejiang (excluding farmers) reversed the downward trend, with year-on-year growth of 2.7% and 0.6% respectively. Market confidence continued to stabilize. Strong industrial support. According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in the first quarter, the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 6.1% year-on-year, and all 31 provinces achieved positive growth. The industry growth rate exceeded 80%, and the contribution rate of industry to economic growth was nearly 40%. The growth rate of industrial added value above designated size in 10 major industrial provinces is about 7.2%. The industrial growth rate in major industrial provinces such as Zhejiang, Henan, Jiangsu, and Hubei still maintains a relatively fast growth on the basis of a high base in the same period last year. Jia Ruoxiang believes that the stability and optimization of industry have become the fundamental basis for top provinces to maintain economic growth. Emerging industries are accelerating their speed and expansion. Chongqing has achieved significant GDP growth through the advancement of emerging industries such as new energy vehicles and electronic information. Zhejiang, relying on the advantages of artificial intelligence and intelligent robot industry development, saw a year-on-year increase of 15.4% in the added value of core digital economy industries such as manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing in the first quarter. Anhui's "good results" are due to the vigorous development of emerging industries such as new energy vehicles, chips, and artificial intelligence. In the first quarter of this year, the year-on-year growth rate of Anhui's GDP reached 5.8%, and the growth rate of high-tech manufacturing industry reached 38.9%, which is 26.4 percentage points higher than the national average level. The role of the service industry in economic development is also becoming increasingly prominent. In the first quarter of this year, the added value of Jiangsu's service industry accounted for 57.3% of GDP, an increase of 0.4 percentage points year-on-year; In the first quarter of Beijing, the added value of the tertiary industry increased by 6.4% year-on-year at constant prices, while the information transmission, software, and information technology services industry grew by 10.2%. (Looking into the New Era)