# Spatialization and Analysis of China's GDP Based on NPP/VIIRS Data from 2013 to 2023
## 5 Discussion
### Dynamic Analysis of GDP Spatial and Temporal Changes
#### 5.2.3 Regional Differences in Economic Development  
According to different cultural customs and regional characteristics, mainland China can be divided into six major regions, as shown in Figure 9, namely, Northeast China, North China, East China, Central South China, Southwest China, and Northwest China. Taiwan is included in the East China region, and Hong Kong and Macao are included in the Central South region, but the statistics of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao are not included. Due to the differences in geographical location, and relevant policies and leading industries in different regions, the economic development conditions of the regions are also different. Using the results of GDP spatialization, the GDP data of different regions in 2013, 2018, and 2023 were counted, respectively, and the GDP growth rate in the past 11 years was calculated, and Table 8 was obtained. In terms of the total GDP, the economic situation in East China is the best in 2023, while the economic situation in Northeast China is relatively \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Urban**} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**Official GDP (100 Million Yuan)**} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**NTL GDP (100 Million Yuan)**} \\ \cline{2-7}  & **2013** & **2023** & **Growth Rate** & **2013** & **2023** & **Growth Rate** \\ \hline Jing–Jin–Ji & 62,000 & 104,442 & 40.64\% & 53,727.57 & 112,316.95 & 48.96\% \\ The Yangtze Delta & 97,760 & 305,045 & 67.95\% & 132,275.84 & 251,827.82 & 47.47\% \\ Pearl River Delta & 53,060.48 & 110,200 & 51.85\% & 47,674.22 & 87,660.59 & 45.61\% \\ Total & 212,820.48 & 519,687 & 59.05\% & 237,277.63 & 451,805.36 & 47.48\% \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 7: GDP of the three major urban agglomerations in 2013 and 2023.  
poor. In terms of the growth rate, the average GDP growth rate of the country from 2013 to 2023 is 46%, while the growth rate of Northeast China is only 25.40%, which is lower than the GDP growth rate of other regions. The GDP growth rate in Central and South China is the fastest, reaching 54.45%, and the GDP growth rate in East China is slightly lower than that in Central and South China. The GDP in North China, Southwest China, and Northwest China is growing steadily, with a growth rate between 45% and 50%. In terms of land area, the area difference between East China and Northeast China is small, but the GDP gap between the two regions in 2023 is the largest, with a difference of 39,043,852 million yuan. As shown in Figure 10, from the perspective of the expansion process of the high-value-GDP areas in East China and Northeast China, the Northeast region increased from 3763.48 km\({}^{2}\) in 2013 to 4830.92 km\({}^{2}\) in 2023, with an area increase of 1067.45 km\({}^{2}\). Among them, the expansion area from 2013 to 2018 is 682.02 km\({}^{2}\), which is 296.59 km\({}^{2}\) larger than the expansion area from 2018 to 2023. The area of East China's high-value-GDP area in 203 was 31,313.52 km\({}^{2}\), an increase of 16,768.38 km\({}^{2}\) from 2013. The high-value-GDP  
Figure 8: Expansion process of high-GDP areas in each city. Figure 9: The six major regions of mainland China. areas in East China are concentrated in Shanghai, Jiangsu, the Zhejiang coastal areas, Nanchang, Fujian (Fuzhou-Quanzhou-Xiamen), and other places. The high-value-GDP areas in Northeast China are mainly concentrated in Harbin, Changchun, Shenyang, Dalian, and other places. And the scale of East China is larger than that of Northeast China. We analyze the reasons for the huge gap between East China and Northeast China: East China is located on the west coast of the Pacific and the eastern coast of the Eurasian continent, with superior natural conditions. In addition, there are many provinces and cities with a strong GDP in this region, including Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Shandong, and other places. They are rich in products, are economically prosperous, have complete industrial chains and an abundant labor force, and have contributed greatly to the development of China's economy.