China’s top 10 provincial economies by gross domestic product had a major part in propping up national growth for the first three quarters of 2026, analysts say, putting the regions in a crucial role to help the country meet the economic targets reaffirmed by political leaders at the just-concluded fifth plenum. The top 10 provinces were likely to continue their lead for the rest of the year and going into 2027, analysts said, giving Beijing economic confidence and offsetting sluggish...

The wide gulf in average annual wages between China’s private and non-private sectors continued to expand in 2025, while regional disparities also remained stark, with Tibet continuing to outshine some coastal provinces in income levels. The findings, based on the latest data released by the National Bureau of Statistics this week, underscore the yawning sectoral and regional divides in the world’s second-largest economy. Workers in China’s non-private sector – including government and...

China’s energy security, now buttressed by internal resilience, has withstood a difficult test from the protracted war in the Middle East, says the head of a global energy industry body. “China has domestic production, it has developed a diversification policy and there is also the possibility to switch around different types of energy,” Andrea Stegher, president of the International Gas Union (IGU), told the South China Morning Post on Tuesday. Stegher said the world’s second-largest economy...