Shanghai had the highest GDP among mainland China’s administrative-level cities in 2024, followed by Beijing and Shenzhen. This ranking defines “richest” as largest total nominal GDP—not household wealth, income, GDP per capita, or living standards. The figures cover each municipality’s administrative area, which may extend well beyond its dense urban core.
The 10 richest cities in China by 2024 GDP
The table ranks mainland Chinese administrative-level cities by total nominal GDP in 2024. The complete ordering comes from a city-ranking compilation; selected figures below are cross-checked against official statistical releases. Because city data can be revised and the sources do not establish a single consistent revision vintage for all ten, the table does not mix in unverified values.
| Rank | City | 2024 GDP |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shanghai | 5,392.671 billion yuan (Shanghai Municipal Statistics Bureau, 2025) |
| 2 | Beijing | 4,984.31 billion yuan (Beijing Municipal Government / Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics, 2025) |
| 3 | Shenzhen | 3,680.187 billion yuan (Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Statistics, 2025) |
| 4 | Chongqing | Not stated in the cited ranking compilation; see source note below. |
| 5 | Guangzhou | 3,103.250 billion yuan (Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Statistics, 2025) |
| 6 | Suzhou | Not stated in the cited ranking compilation; see source note below. |
| 7 | Chengdu | Not stated in the cited ranking compilation; see source note below. |
| 8 | Hangzhou | Not stated in the cited ranking compilation; see source note below. |
| 9 | Wuhan | Not stated in the cited ranking compilation; see source note below. |
| 10 | Nanjing | Not stated in the cited ranking compilation; see source note below. |
The order of all ten cities is reported in the 2024 data compilation of top Chinese cities by GDP. Exact values for the six cities marked “not stated” are omitted because the reviewed material does not establish their figures against the relevant municipal releases.
What “richest” means in this ranking
GDP measures the value of final goods and services produced within an economic territory. Shanghai’s statistical bureau describes its regional GDP scope in terms of economic units whose center of economic interest is in the region and whose activity there meets the relevant criteria. Total GDP is therefore a measure of aggregate economic output and scale, not a tally of residents’ assets or paychecks.
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- Total GDP: useful for comparing the overall scale of city economies.
- GDP per capita: divides output by population, but is not a direct measure of household income or wealth.
- Income and household wealth: answer questions about residents’ finances and require separate, consistently dated data.
- Living standards: also depend on factors such as prices and access to services; total GDP alone cannot establish them.
Why city boundaries matter
This comparison follows municipal administrative boundaries, not only the built-up central city. Chinese municipalities can include extensive areas outside the dense urban core, so their total GDP should not be read as a direct measure of the prosperity of a typical central-city resident. Chongqing’s fourth-place position is especially important to interpret within that boundary-based framework rather than as a simple comparison of urban cores.
What the ranking says about China’s economy
Shanghai and Beijing lead the 2024 list, each with output above five trillion yuan; Shenzhen ranks third at about 3.68 trillion yuan. These totals show the scale of the largest municipal economies, but do not show which city has the highest growth rate, GDP per person, or resident income.
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National accounts provide context, not a substitute for city figures. China’s National Bureau of Statistics finalized the 2024 national GDP at 134.8066 trillion yuan in current prices in December 2025, 101.8 billion yuan below the preliminary accounting, while retaining real growth of 5.0%. That national revision does not by itself establish that any city’s ranking changed. Separately, the National Development and Reform Commission reported that 18 of 36 key cities exceeded one trillion yuan of GDP in 2024; Beijing’s municipal culture and tourism bureau reported that 21 cities above that threshold grew at or above the national 5% rate. Those counts use their cited sources’ respective city groupings and are not a replacement for the top-ten ordering.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why the ranking is labeled 2024
The table is a 2024 ranking because the reviewed sources do not establish a complete, comparable 2025 top-ten dataset. A 2025 Shanghai GDP result alone would not be enough to update the order consistently across all cities. Keeping the year visible avoids presenting a partial update as a current all-city comparison.
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