Nanyang GDP hits 500b yuan mark

Nanyang, Central China's Henan province, is doubling down on making good use of both domestic and international markets alongside resources to seek faster development, after the city historically stepped onto the 500-billion-yuan ($75 billion) economic-scale stage, posting the second-fastest growth in the province last year, according to its top official.

Wang Zhihui, a deputy to the National People's Congress and Party secretary of Nanyang, said: "We remain unwavering in playing the 'open card' strategy, making good use of both domestic and international markets and resources. We aim to channel more resources into Nanyang while enabling more local enterprises to go global."

The city's economic heft is growing rapidly. In 2025, its GDP crossed the 500-billion-yuan threshold for the first time, hitting 516.8 billion yuan, government data showed.

This secured Nanyang's position as the third-largest urban economy in the province, while its growth rate of 6.5 percent ranked second among all Henan cities and counties.

"With a large population and a strong economic foundation, Nanyang enjoys a superior location, convenient transportation, immense market potential, a complete industrial system and abundant human resources," Wang said, adding that these advantages position the city favorably to integrate into and serve the construction of a unified national market.

The comments came after the 2026 Government Work Report said: "To fully leverage the strengths of our enormous market, we must further develop a unified national market and eliminate local protectionism and market segmentation."

Specifically, Nanyang is reinforcing its infrastructure and business climate to boost domestic demand. Wang highlighted the synchronized development of air, water, rail and road networks, with major projects like the Tanghe River shipping initiative and the Nanyang-Xinyang-Hefei high-speed railway project accelerating progress. These efforts aim to forge a modern comprehensive transportation system, turning robust transport links into thriving logistics, commerce and industries.

On the institutional front, the city is deepening reforms to foster a market-oriented, law-based and internationalized business environment. "We are breaking down barriers, deepening 'streamlined administration, delegating power, improving regulation and upgrading services reforms, while advancing comprehensive supportive reforms to optimize the business ecosystem," Wang said.

Meanwhile, to establish itself as a national strategic city for modern logistics, Nanyang is actively advancing the development of regional logistics hubs and key cold chain bases. It is vigorously attracting and cultivating leading logistics enterprises, aiming to leverage a robust transportation network to boost the logistics sector, energize commerce, aggregate industries and support the city's development, Wang added.

These efforts have already paid off. Nanyang has been recognized as an advanced city in business environment construction, with the number of new market entities reaching 153,000, bringing the total to over 1.06 million, ranking second in the province.

Looking outward, Nanyang is championing openness to stimulate trade and investment. The focus is on leveraging both domestic and international markets and resources. While strengthening regional cooperation to attract quality industry transfers from within China, the city is also enhancing its international platforms.

"We are pursuing a strategy that equally values 'bringing in' and 'going global'," Wang said. "Our goal is to establish Nanyang as a new highland for inland opening-up."

The city's approach is already yielding tangible results. According to the latest government data, Nanyang's total retail sales of consumer goods reached 259.98 billion yuan in 2025, ranking second in the province. Notably, the number of enterprises with actual foreign trade performance grew 26 percent year-on-year, the fastest growth rate in Henan.

Nanyang's strategic push is underpinned by its status as a national comprehensive pilot zone for cross-border e-commerce — a pioneer zone for innovation in the China (Henan) Pilot Free Trade Zone. These platforms, combined with its strong economic fundamentals, are pivotal to its ambition of becoming a regional consumption center, a national logistics hub and a model for inland open economic development during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30), experts said.

Su Jian, a professor at the School of Economics at Peking University, said Henan has a strong industrial structure and foundation. However, to develop its economy, the province should not rely solely on its existing industrial base. Instead, it needs to attract more investment — including both domestic and foreign capital — and encourage private enterprises to invest and set up factories there.

"More efforts should be made to create a highly favorable business environment that is law-based, market-oriented and aligned with international first-class standards," Su said.

Contact the writers at masi@chinadaily.com.cn