Guangdong Province leads the country in provincial GDP in the first quarter of 2015 with 1.49 trillion yuan (US$240.8 billion), according to the latest GDP statistics released by provincial statistical bureaus and Wind Information Co. Ltd., a leading provider of financial data, information and software.

Chongqing had the highest GDP growth rate with 10.7 percent, followed by Guizhou and Tibet.

A total of 18 provinces and regions surpassed the 7-percent national GDP growth rate in the first quarter of 2015. However, Liaoning Province had only a 1.9-percent growth rate, ranking last in the country.

Liu Shuwei, director of the Chinese Enterprise Research Center at the Central University of Finance and Economics said that three provinces in northeast China are experiencing growing pains as they undertake the transformation of their economies, but lots of state-owned large and medium enterprises have found or are searching for new points of economic growth there.

Liu also said that lots of small enterprises with new business models and private enterprises that are not included in statistics exist in northeast China. She asserted that many of these enterprises will direct and provide momentum for the future economy of northeast China.

Additionally, due to the recent integration of the development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei Province, both Tianjin and Hebei performed very well in the first quarter of 2015.

Let's take a look at the top 10 provinces and regions with highest GDP in the first quarter:

  Hubei

GDP:548.7 billion yuan (US$88.4 billion)