When talking about economic power today, two countries inevitably dominate the conversation: the United States and China. One has long been the world’s largest economy by nominal GDP, the other has rapidly grown into the world’s largest when measured by purchasing power parity (PPP). So it’s no surprise these two are often compared. But instead of just looking at the national totals, what if we zoom in and compare their regions—U.S. states vs. Chinese provinces?
It’s a useful lens. Both countries are continent-sized, with enormous internal variation. California’s economy has little in common with Mississippi’s, just as Beijing and Gansu couldn’t be more different economically. Comparing them at a local level gives a more accurate view of how growth has unfolded across time and space.
The animation uses GDP (PPP) data from the World Bank, the IMF, and China’s National Bureau of Statistics. It tracks the economic output of individual U.S. states and Chinese provinces in international dollars—adjusted for purchasing power—between 1960 and 2026 (with projections for the most recent years).
As soon as the animation begins, it becomes clear just how different the two economies looked in the 1960s. Back then, even China’s most productive provinces lagged behind the smaller U.S. states. But as the decades roll by, the picture changes rapidly.
By the 1990s, coastal provinces like Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang start moving up the rankings. The shift reflects what was happening on the ground: China was opening its economy. The turning point was 1978, when Deng Xiaoping launched economic reforms that replaced central planning with market incentives and foreign investment. That included setting up Special Economic Zones (SEZs), the most famous being Shenzhen, which went from a small fishing town to a megacity with a GDP (PPP) over $500 billion today.
Today, the results are clear. California, still the top U.S. state, had a GDP (PPP) of about $4 trillion in 2024, roughly on par with Germany. But Guangdong, China’s leading province, has closed the gap with about $2 trillion. That’s not far behind Texas, which had a PPP GDP of around $2.4 trillion the same year.
Other coastal Chinese provinces—Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong—have climbed into the global top ranks as well. Meanwhile, U.S. states like Florida, New York, and Illinois have maintained strong positions, but their rate of growth has been more stable over time rather than explosive.
What’s driving China’s current momentum? Several things. The country now invests more than 2.6% of its GDP in R&D, outpacing many advanced economies. It’s become a global leader in industries like electric vehicles, solar energy, and e-commerce. Over 65% of the population now lives in cities, fueling demand for infrastructure and services. And with over 1 billion internet users, China’s digital economy is second only to the U.S.
But challenges are building. China’s population is aging. Productivity growth is slowing. And the real estate sector, which long powered local government revenue, is wobbling. According to the IMF, China’s projected growth for 2024 is 4.6%, far below the double-digit expansion of the early 2000s.
