Gaining perspective on China’s monstrous economy isn’t always the easiest thing to do.

With 1.4 billion people and the third-largest geographical area, the country is a vast place to begin with. Add in explosive economic growth, a market-oriented but Communist government, a longstanding and complex cultural history, and self-inflicted demographic challenges – and understanding China can be even more of a puzzle.

CITY BY CITY

To truly grasp the emergence of China, one approach is to look at the impressive economic footprint made by the country’s cities.

Of course, cities like Shanghai, Beijing, and Hong Kong are the metro economic powerhouses that most people are familiar with. But have you heard of cities like Shijiazhuang, Wuxi, Changsha, Suzhou, Ningbo, Foshan, or Yantai?

There are literally dozens of Chinese cities that most people have never heard of – yet they each hold millions of people and have an economic output comparable to nations.

Here’s a list of 31 of them, the size of their local economy, and a comparably sized national economy:

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Rank Chinese City City GDP (2015, nominal) Comparable Country #1 Shanghai $810 Netherlands #2 Beijing $664 Switzerland #3 Guangzhou $524 Argentina #4 Shenzhen $491 Sweden #5 Tianjin $478 Poland #6 Suzhou $440 Belgium #7 Chongqing $425 Thailand #8 Hong Kong $414 Norway #9 Wuhan $324 Israel #10 Hangzhou $275 Chile

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MEGAREGIONS

It’s also important to remember that these cities don’t exist in isolation, and are instead cogs in the wheels of larger megaregions. Such areas would be comparable to the Northeast U.S., in which New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. are all hours apart and remain largely integrated as a regional economy.