Shanghai, the nation’s financial hub, reported 5.5 per cent year-on-year growth in gross domestic product for the first nine months of the year, outpacing the 5.2 per cent national average, according to data released by the city’s statistics bureau on Wednesday.
Retail sales for the first nine months of 2025 were up 4.3 per cent year on year, despite only rising 1.7 per cent in the first two quarters. Hi-tech manufacturing – a category that includes artificial intelligence, integrated circuits and biotechnology – led growth in the city’s industrial sector, with output surging 8.5 per cent year on year.
“In the first three quarters, the city’s economy showed stronger internal momentum, showing a steady and improving development trend,” Shanghai’s statistics bureau said, while cautioning that external uncertainties remained and more policy support was needed to consolidate the recovery.
Beijing also beat the national average, posting 5.6 per cent year-on-year growth over the same period, driven by information services, finance and hi-tech manufacturing, according to its municipal statistics bureau.
