China's regional growth gap widens as major economies hold up

China's regional growth divide widened in the first nine months of 2026, as major provincial economies held up while some of the weakest performers slowed further. Nine of the 10 largest provincial economies matched or exceeded China’s national growth rate of 4.6%, according to a Caixin tally of figures released by all 31 provincial-level regions on the mainland by Tuesday. Fujian was the exception, growing 3.9%. Guangdong, China’s largest provincial economy, grew 4.6%, up 0.1 percentage point from its first-half pace.