On August 5, the Urban Economic Research Center of CCID Consulting released its annual research report on the high-quality economic development in China's urban districts, as well as the 2025 list of China's top 100 districts in the high-quality economic development. 

Changsha's Yuhua, Tianxin, Furong, and Kaifu districts made the list, ranking 13th, 48th, 66th, and 99th respectively.

According to the report, during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), China's urban districts have achieved remarkable results in high-quality economic development. The economic aggregate of these districts grew steadily. From 2020 to 2024, the GDP of China's urban districts increased from 45.2 trillion CNY to 57.2 trillion CNY, representing an average annual compound growth of 6.1%. The number of "billion-CNY districts" (districts with GDP exceeding 100 billion CNY) continued to expand, rising from 111 in 2020 to 171 in 2024.

Yuhua District continued to take the provincial lead on the list. This year, the district has focused on the task themes of "project acceleration and industrial upgrade." It has made vigorous efforts in key areas such as projects, industries, zones, and commercial buildings, injecting momentum into the regional economy. Simultaneously, the district is reshaping its development pattern in industrial upgrading through new quality productive forces, achieving notable results in emerging fields like the low-altitude economy and digital economy.

Tianxin District climbed one position on the ranking. Data shows that in the first half of this year, Tianxin District's economy maintained steady growth momentum with improving quality and strengthened expectations. Per capita disposable income grew by 3.8%, ranking third in the growth rate among central urban districts and first in total amount among the nine districts, counties, and county-level cities of Changsha. The proportion of the provincial and municipal key projects newly launched and resumed reached 95.8%. Market vitality increased significantly, with the number of market entities and enterprises rising by 10.2% and 10.1% year on year respectively.

Furong District has been shortlisted for the CCID Top 100 Districts list for five consecutive years. As Changsha's smallest administrative district by area, Furong District contributes nearly one-tenth of the city's total economic output with just 1/276 of the city's land. Key indicators including GDP per unit area, per capita GDP, and added value of the tertiary sector ranked first among all urban districts provincewide.

Kaifu District has also remained on the list for five straight years. In the first half of 2025, the district's GDP grew by 3.3% year on year. Meanwhile, it ranked second among the core districts by various indicators, namely, value-added of industries above designated size (4.1%), total retail sales (6.8%), municipal and district-level tax revenue (5.91%), and total import-export volume (50.5%).

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Pang Yuehui

Chinese source: Changsha.gov.cn