On March 17, the China Development Research Foundation and PwC China jointly released the Chinese Cities of Opportunity 2017 report. Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Wuhan and Nanjing are the top 5 in the comprehensive ranking in the report. Chinese cities, with Guangzhou and Shenzhen as the representatives, have entered the Urban Development 2.0 Era, said experts. These cities are the critical factors for China’s development and transformation in the next stage. 

The Chinese Cities of Opportunity report is a series of city survey reports jointly released by PwC China and the China Development Research Foundation for discussion at the China Development Forum. Four editions of the Cities of Opportunity report have been published since 2014. The Chinese Cities of Opportunity 2017 provides in-depth observations on 28 Chinese cities using ten indicators and 57 variables. The indicators are intellectual capital and innovation, important regional cities, technology readiness, health care, safety and security, transportation and urban planning, sustainability and the natural environment, culture and lifestyle, economic clout, cost and ease of doing business.

In terms of comprehensive ranking, Guangzhou and Shenzhen captured the first and second places relying on their advantages in balanced development. Guangzhou ranked the No. 1 in the three indicators of intellectual capital and innovation, important regional cities, health care, safety and security, and gained the first place in total score again after taking the No. 1 for the first time last year.

Since Beijing and Shanghai are particularly large international Chinese cities, they have been excluded from the research scope of this report, which is the same with the situation last year. It is worthwhile to mention that Zhuhai ranked the 11^th in comprehensive ranking among the newly added cities for observation in 2017.

 

Source: Translated from Invest Guangzhou, March 18, 2017