CXMT Base Hefei Records 6.8% Growth as Regional Economic Disparities Deepen in China

China's regional economic polarization grew more severe in the first half of this year.

While AI industry hubs experienced rapid growth fueled by semiconductor and AI investment booms, regions dependent on traditional manufacturing fell into a slump.

Bloomberg News, citing an analysis by investment bank Nomura, reported that the weighted average GDP growth rate for seven Chinese AI hubs—Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Hefei, and Wuhan—reached 5.6% in the first half of this year.

This figure surpasses China's nationwide first-half GDP growth rate of 4.7% announced by the National Bureau of Statistics of China on the 15th.

These seven cities account for approximately 20% of China's total economic growth for the first half of this year.

A representative beneficiary region is Hefei, Anhui Province, home to the headquarters of ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), which successfully debuted in the stock market recently. Its growth rate increased by 6.8% compared to the same period last year, surpassing its annual growth rate for 2025.

Shenzhen, a high-tech hub adjacent to Hong Kong, saw its first-half GDP jump by 5.8%, while Wuhan, a production base for memory semiconductors and optical components used in AI data centers, recorded a growth rate of 5.7%.

Conversely, Changchun in Jilin Province, which has a high dependency on the internal combustion engine vehicle industry, saw its growth rate plunge from 4.9% annually last year to 1.6% in the first half of this year.

Due to slumps in traditional industries such as petrochemicals, Hunan Province and its capital Changsha saw their first-half GDP growth rates stall at 2.7% and 2.5%, respectively.

Nomura projected, "The fruits of AI-driven growth are concentrated in a small number of 'smart cities,'" adding, "As this is difficult to offset the growth slowdown in other parts of China, the Chinese government is likely to strengthen economic stimulus policies in the second half."
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.