In 2014, Guizhou province, Southwest China, achieved a significant breakthrough in GDP, reaching $148.9 billion with 10.8 percent growth compared to that of the previous year. The figure puts Guizhou in second place for growth in comparison to other provinces in China, according to statistics from the Guizhou Provincial Bureau of Statistics (GPBS) on January 21.

The number from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that the economic growth of China in 2014 reached 7.4 percent, a drop of 0.3 percentage points compared to 2013.

The GDP growth of Guizhou, which is 3.4 percentage points higher than the 7.4 percent economic growth of the nation, has taken the top three places four years in a row according to Ren Xiangsheng, head of the GPBS.

Ren said in comparison to 2010, the economic aggregate of Guizhou doubled in 2014, which accounts for 1.5 percent of China’s overall economic aggregate.

"Investment is the main factor that drives the rapid development of Guizhou's economy, which contributed 70 percent to economic growth," said Ren.

In the agriculture field, the gross output of grain in 2014 was 11.38 tons, a 10.8 percent year-on-year growth, the highest of the past five years.

Except for the tremendous growth in agriculture, industrial added value reached $50.20 billion, which is the biggest part of Guizhou's GDP growth in 2014, accounting for 33.7 percent of economic growth.

However, the tertiary industry saw eye-grabbing growth, especially in the tourism industry. More than 321 million tourists visited Guizhou with gross income over $46.6 billion.

"Due to the development stage of Guizhou, investment will remain the driver of Guizhou's economic development, and attention will be paid to it too," said Ren.