information:extraction
Economy

Changsha is one of China's 15 most "developed and economically advanced" cities. The city's GDP per capita exceeded $20,000 in nominal ($30,000 in PPP) in 2021, which is considered a high-income status by the World Bank and a primary developed city according to the international standard. The HDI of Changsha reached 0.817 (very high) in 2016, which is roughly comparable to a moderately developed country. Changsha is now one of the core cities in the South Central China region, the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the Belt and Road Initiative, a Beta- (global second-tier) city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, a new Chinese first-tier city and also a pioneering area for China-Africa economic and trade cooperation. Known as the "Construction Machinery Capital of the world", Changsha has an industrial chain with construction machinery and new materials as the main industries, complemented by automobiles, electronic information, household appliances, and biomedicine.

Since the 1990s, Changsha has begun to accelerate economic development, and then achieved the highest growth rate among China's major cities during the 2000s. The Xiangjiang New Area, the first state-level new area in Central China, was established in 2015. Changsha also has a prominent media and publishing industry, and has been named the first "UNESCO City of Media Arts" in China. Changsha is home to the Hunan Broadcasting System (HBS), the most influential provincial TV station in China.

In 2017, Changsha made its way into the 1-trillion-yuan GDP club, becoming the 13th city in China with a GDP of one trillion yuan (154 billion US dollars). Moreover, the financial news portal Yicai.com released its 2017 ranking of China's new first-tier cities, and Changsha was a newcomer. As of 2020, more than 164 Global 500 companies have established branches in Changsha. As a new first-tier city, Changsha is rated #10 in terms of its commercial worth.

As of 2021, Changsha's GDP exceeded RMB 1.327 trillion (US$208 billion in nominal and US$318 billion in PPP), making it the 5th most wealthy city in the South-Central China region after Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Wuhan and the 2nd richest city in the Central China region after Wuhan. Changsha's GDP (nominal) was US$208 billion in 2021, exceeding that of Ukraine and Hungary, with GDPs of US$200 billion and US$182 billion, the 22nd and 23rd largest economies in Europe respectively. Changsha has also led the development of the night economy and as of 2021, it ranked 2nd nationwide after Chongqing in terms of nighttime economic power according to the "China City Night Economy Impact Report 2021-2022".

According to the 2022 Hurun Global Rich List, Changsha ranks among the top 35 cities globally and 11th in Greater China (after Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Taipei, Foshan, Suzhou, and Ningbo) in terms of resident billionaires.

Changsha's nominal GDP is projected to be among the world's top 50 largest cities according to a study by Oxford Economics in 2035 and its nominal GDP per capita will reach US$41,000 in 2030.