The Greater Bay Area (GBA) now houses three out of the six top Chinese cities by gross domestic product (GDP). That’s according to the party secretary of Guangdong, Huang Kunming, who shared the news during a meeting held on 6 March as part of the Two Sessions – one of China’s most important annual political gatherings.
Speaking to various media outlets, Huang noted that out of the six Chinese cities that recorded a GDP of more than 3 trillion yuan last year, three of them – Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Hong Kong – were located in the GBA. The remaining cities are Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing.
The GBA managed to reach the milestone after Hong Kong announced it had recorded an economic output of more than three trillion yuan in 2025.
“This world-class bay area – the most dynamically developing of its kind – is now experiencing rapid growth,” Huang said.
When combined, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Hong Kong’s GDP amounts to more than 10 trillion yuan – a figure that exceeds the economies of countries such as Indonesia and Turkey. The economic output of these three GBA cities is also equivalent to the size of two Switzerlands or three Swedens, according to Nanfang Daily.
By city, Shenzhen was ranked as the third biggest urban economy in China last year, recording a GDP of 3.87 trillion yuan, up by 5.5 percent year-on-year.
Guangzhou’s 2025 was ranked fourth place, with an economic output of 3.2 trillion yuan, an increase of 4 percent over the previous year. Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s GDP grew by 3.5 percent to 3.05 trillion yuan, earning it sixth place nationally.
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Shanghai and Beijing were ranked first and second respectively, with the former recording a GDP of 5.67 trillion yuan, and the latter registering an GDP of 5.2 trillion yuan. Chongqing was ranked fourth, with its economy producing 3.37 trillion yuan in output.
Overall, the GBA’s GDP in 2025 exceeded 15 trillion yuan last year, accounting for a ninth of China’s overall economic output, despite the fact that the region only accounts for 0.6 percent of the national land mass.
Regarding the GBA being the only city cluster in China to have three cities with a GDP of more than 3 trillion yuan, Hu Gang, the head of the Urban research Association of South China and a lecturer at Jinan University, said “this was definitely not coincidental.”
In an interview with Guangzhou Daily, Hu noted that the current result shows that the trend of China’s industry, population and other such elements being clustered in major city centres remained strong with Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Guangzhou serving as the three major engines in the region.
Hu also mentioned that the three GBA cities were geographically close and complemented each other with their individual clear-cut functions.
The expert pointed out that Shenzhen was the region’s engine for tech innovation. Meanwhile, Guangzhou was described as a “comprehensive gateway,” serving as a tech innovation hub and support for the hinterlands. In addition, Hong Kong was the region’s centre for global finance and shipping, as well as a source of international resources.
Looking ahead, Hu said that the current economic performance of the three cities showed that the GBA’s business environment and momentum for development were continuing to strengthen, not only in scale, but also in terms of quality.
