Top 10 provincial capitals with fastest economic growth from Jan-Sept

Chinese capital cities with fastest growth in the first three quarters mostly come from the country's central and western areas, with Guiyang's rate of 9.8 percent topping the list, according to data compiled by 21st Century Business Herald.

Next to the capital of Southwest China's Guizhou province, Kunming, Southwest China's Yunnan province, and Taiyuan, North China's Shanxi province, both posted 9.1 percent of growth in the same period, and Xining of Northwest China's Qinghai province came in at 9 percent.

Nanchang, Fuzhou, Hefei, Wuhan, Zhengzhou, Xi'an, Chengdu and Nanjing all saw their growth above 8 percent from January to September, though analysis from some capital cities' bureau of statistics showed an increase in economic down pressure, with rising number of enterprises shutting down, slow consumption growth in some sectors and sharp increase of cost.

The full list of top 10 capital cities with fastest growth in the first three quarters is as follows:

No 10 Xi'an in Northwest China's Shaanxi province

Growth rate: 8.2 percent