MORE provinces have cut their annual growth targets in 2019 than the year before.

Of China’s 31 provinces, regions and municipalities, at least 23 cut their economic growth targets for this year, according to provincial announcements this month. In 2018, 17 provinces set lower targets.

Shandong, China’s third-richest province, has yet to announce its 2019 target.

Five provinces — Sichuan, Hebei, Guizhou, Gansu and Hainan — kept their targets unchanged from last year. That compares with 12 provinces that maintained their targets in 2018.

Only one province — Hubei — raised its target, encouraged by an emerging high-tech manufacturing sector.

“The new provincial targets reflect the challenges faced by China. Export-driven coastal areas are facing the risk of lower growth amid uncertainty from the trade war,” said Tommy Xie, economist at OCBC Bank.

Last year, 15 provinces, regions and municipalities met or exceeded their growth targets, including Beijing, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Hebei and Hubei.

An almost equal number missed their targets. Among them, Inner Mongolia, Tianjin, Hainan, Heilongjiang, Jilin and Xinjiang fared more poorly than others, undershooting their goals by at least 1 percentage point.

Chongqing was the worst — missing its target by 2.5 percentage points.(SD-Agencies)