China's 13 provincial-level regions have reported double-digit growth in gross domestic product (GDP) year on year in the first half of the year, beating analyst estimates, Friday's Shanghai Securities News reported.

Of China's 27 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities that have reported their first-half economic statistics as of July 31, 13 regions saw their GDP growth exceeding 10 percent during the first six months of the year, compared with the same period last year, said the report.

Northern municipality of Tianjing and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region took the lead by posting a 16.2 percent growth respectively, while five other provinces, including export powerhouses Shanghai and Zhejiang, failed to reach the national level of 7.1 percent.

The growth had strongly supported China's economic recovery and the full-year target of 8 percent growth is within reach, said Zhang Yongjun, researcher with the State Information Center.

Zhang attributed the strong recovery to the country's massive economic stimulus projects, including expanding investment and record lending which had spurred local investment, and in turn boosted production and resulted in rebounding enterprise profit.

China had set a goal of 8 percent growth for this year, while the country's GDP grew 7.1 percent year on year in the first half, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

(Xinhua News Agency July 31, 2009)