As many parts of the country enter the time of the 2024 National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, various regions have successively released their 2023 economic annual reports. As of January 29th, 30 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the central government) in China have announced their economic performance for the whole year of 2023. According to public information, a total of 16 provinces have a faster growth rate than the whole country, of which 7 provinces belong to the western region and 2 provinces belong to the central region. Tian Lihui, Dean of the Institute of Financial Development at Nankai University, told Securities Daily that provinces that outperform the country can actively explore new paths and models suitable for their own development, and make significant progress in optimizing economic structure, developing emerging industries, improving the business environment, and promoting stable economic growth throughout the country. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the growth rate of 16 provinces outperformed that of the whole country. In 2023, China's gross domestic product (GDP) was 126058.2 billion yuan, an increase of 5.2% compared to the previous year at constant prices. According to Securities Daily reporters, in 2023, 16 provinces had a faster growth rate than the whole country, while Beijing remained on par with the whole country. All provinces that have disclosed data have achieved positive GDP growth. Among them, Xizang's GDP growth rate reached 9.5%, temporarily leading the country; Following closely behind, Hainan grew by 9.2%; Inner Mongolia ranked third with a growth rate of 7.3%. The provinces with a growth rate of over 6% include Ningxia, Gansu, Jilin, Chongqing, Shandong, Sichuan, Zhejiang, and Hubei. The Chief Economist of CITIC Securities, Mingming, told Securities Daily reporters that in terms of economic growth, the western region and more developed provinces in the east have faster economic growth rates. From the perspective of economic operation characteristics, the former undertakes industrial transfer under the Western Development Strategy and has a relatively fast investment growth rate. The latter continues to play a driving role in this year's recovery. On the one hand, its degree of openness to the outside world is relatively high, the private economy is more active, and the talent dividend can be fully utilized, resulting in strong endogenous economic momentum. On the other hand, the policy implementation in eastern provinces is relatively intensive, and the government's investment guidance ability is strong. "In 2023, the economic growth of some provinces exceeded the national average growth rate, mainly due to the accelerated recovery of their industrial and service industries, especially the rapid growth of the service industry, which has shown impressive performance in the context of accelerated consumption recovery." Liu Xiangdong, Deputy Director of the Economic Research Department of the China International Economic Exchange Center, analyzed to reporters from Securities Daily that Hainan, Inner Mongolia, Gansu Jilin and other provinces have experienced rapid economic recovery with the dual support of traditional industry recovery and the release of new energy, and have demonstrated the characteristics of rapid recovery with the help of favorable national policies. Shandong, Zhejiang and other eastern coastal provinces are accelerating the transformation of new and old driving forces, continuously optimizing their economic structure, and accelerating the cultivation of emerging industries, thereby promoting effective improvement in quality and reasonable growth in quantity. In terms of total economic output, Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Shandong occupy the top three in the total economic output of Chinese provinces in 2023, all exceeding 9 trillion yuan. Especially as the largest province in the economy, Guangdong has become the first province in China to exceed 13 trillion yuan in annual GDP, with its total economic output ranking first in the country for 35 consecutive years. In Tian Lihui's view, as a major economic province in China, Guangdong's industrial growth is in emerging industries such as new energy vehicles, photovoltaics, and wind power