A group of second-tier cities are the new locomotives behind surging consumption in the Yangtze River economic zone, China's economic powerhouse.

A newly released White Paper on Yangtze River Economic Zone Retail Markets, written by the region's research center in Shanghai, says that six second-tier cities in east China's Jiangsuand Zhejiang provinces - Nanjing, Wuxi, Suzhou, Nantong, Changzhou and Taizhou - contributed 40 percent of the region's growth in retail sales.

The traditional big players - Shanghai, Hangzhou and Ningbo - are being overtaken in terms of rate of growth.

The Yangtze River economic zone, one of the richest regions in China, encompasses 16 major cities. It became the first zone to benefit from state-level comprehensive planning in March 2006.

In 2005 it racked up 1.07 trillion yuan (US$134 billion) in total consumer retail sales, up 14.4 percent year-on-year, outpacing the region's gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate.

In the first quarter of the year, the Yangtze River Economic Zone accounted for 22.7 percent of China's total GDP, up 0.6 percentage point year-on-year.

A genuine economic pacemaker in China, the region's consumer retail sales bounced 14.5 percent in the first quarter, 1.5 percentage points higher than the national average, proof of its sustained vitality.

The Yangtze River Delta, led by Shanghai, stretches along China's east coast, and boasts 16 "mega-cities," famous for their bustling private sectors. The region has spearheaded China's economy since the country's reform and opening-up was initiated 28 years ago.

(Xinhua News Agency August 19, 2006)