The gross domestic product of Sichuan province in southwest China grew 14.5 per cent year-on-year to Rmb930bn in the first half of 2011, according to the provincial statistics bureau.

Twenty-eight of the 31 provinces on the Chinese mainland reported GDP increases of more than 10 per cent over this period, Shenzhen Evening News reported.

Historically, individual provinces tend to report economic growth rates that are higher than nationally-compiled figures and this trend seems to be apparent again in the first half of 2011, with the National Bureau of Statistics reporting a 9.6 percent year-on-year growth rate for the whole country.