In southeast Fujian province, Governor Su Shulin told a recent economic work conference that local officials should spare no effort to accelerate approved projects and spur the creation of new projects. Similar calls were heard in Liaoning, Qinghai and Shaanxi provinces.

Nationwide, fixed-asset investment growth in the first three months slid to 17.6 percent from 19.3 percent for the whole of 2013. The 8.8 percent increase in industrial production in March also trailed previous estimates.

However, the slowdown varied from region to region. Northeast Heilongjiang province recorded the slowest industrial output growth rate in the first two months, coming it at just 1 percent.

But both Anhui and Chongqing recorded a 12.9 percent year-on-year growth rate for industrial output, the highest among all regions.

Analysts said provinces that are less reliant on heavy industry are also less exposed to the slowdown, which highlights the urgency of changing the growth model. The hardest-hit regions all have economies that are dependent on heavy industries or natural resource projects.

For example, coal-rich Shaanxi province recorded 11.2 percent industrial output growth in the first two months, compared with 13.2 percent the same period of last year and 17.3 percent in 2012.

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