Twenty-seven Chinese provinces have announced their GDP in the first half of this year, with Guangdong taking the crown with the highest figure, 5.05 trillion yuan, followed by Jiangsu at 4.86 trillion yuan and Shandong at 4.18 trillion yuan.

At the top 10 provinces' GDP ranking, southern provinces accounted for seven positions, including Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan and Fujian.

Among of the 27 provinces, Yunnan took the first spot in GDP growth to climb 9.2 percent from same period last year, Guizhou and Jiangxi ranked at second and third, respectively, with the figures at a 9 percent and 8.6 percent year-on-year increase.

Fifteen provinces' GDP growth was higher than the national growth rate of 6.3 percent in the first six months of this year, including Yunnan, Guizhou, Jiangxi, Fujian, Anhui, Hubei, Sichuan, Henan, Shanxi, Hunan, Zhejiang, Hebei, Jiangsu, Ningxia and Guangdong.

Watching the GDP and GDP growth rankings, the economic strength in southern provinces is stronger than in provinces north of the Qinling Mountains and Huaihe River, with three northern provinces - Shandong, Henan and Hebei - having positions in the top 10 GDP ranking, as well as two northern provinces - Henan and Shanxi - listed at the top 10 GDP growth ranking, according to financial news outlet Yicai's report on Thursday.

Jilin, Heilongjiang, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and Tibet autonomous region's economic data will be released later.

Influenced by over-capacity in traditional industries, such as resource-based industries and heavy chemical industries, the northern provinces suffered lagging economic growth in recent years, said Yicai, citing an expert.

The country should continue to promote coordinated development among the eastern, central and western regions to shrink the gap, and also should balance the development between the northern and southern regions, the expert said.