Beijing for the first time saw its GDP surpass 3 trillion yuan ($447 billion), reaching 3.03 trillion yuan in 2018, following Shanghai, which topped the list of GDP among Chinese cities at 3.27 trillion yuan. Both of these cities registered a 6.6 percent year-in-year growth in GDP based on comparable prices, official data showed.

Shenzhen, the third on the list, saw its GDP hit 2.4 trillion yuan, an increase of about 7.5 percent compared with a year earlier, making it among the top five Asian cities in economic aggregate, said Shenzhen's Mayor Chen Rugui.

Guangzhou, another major contributor to Guangdong's GDP apart from Shenzhen, took the fourth place, with an estimated regional GDP of 2.3 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of about 6.5 percent.

Among the top 10 China's cities in GDP, cities in central and west still lead the growth rate, said news outlet yicai.com. Chengdu and Wuhan were in close competition with GDP of 1.53 trillion yuan and 1.48 trillion yuan, respectively, and both experienced an 8 percent year-on-year growth.

Overall, most cities maintained a medium-to-high-speed growth rate, though growth rates fell.

Tianjin maintained the same GDP growth rate of 3.6 percent compared with 2017, reaching 1.88 trillion yuan, and Chongqing saw a 6 percent increase to 2.04 trillion yuan, down 3.5 percentage points compared with a year earlier.

The top 10 cities in GDP last year were Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Tianjin, Suzhou, Chengdu, Wuhan and Hangzhou.