Shenzhen took third place in the 2020 China City Creativity Index (2020 CCCI) rankings, according to a report released at the 6th Shenzhen Management Innovation Dialogue Forum on Saturday, Shenzhen Economic Daily reported.
The top 10 cities in the rankings are: Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Chongqing, Chengdu and Nanjing.
Initiated in 2012, the CCCI is the first cross-city comparative competitiveness index of the cultural industry in China. It has been studied and published for nine consecutive years under the support of the Shenzhen Special Fund for Publicity and Cultural Development.
The 2020 CCCI was completed by the research team of the College of Management of Shenzhen University.
According to Professor Zhou Zhimin, the lead researcher of the index and vice president of the college, the index can quantify the performance of local governments in developing cultural industries from both horizontal and vertical perspectives, providing references for improving a city’s creativity index and urban governance.
In this year’s CCCI study, 50 large and medium-sized Chinese cities were evaluated. Meanwhile, 11 cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area were evaluated separately for two consecutive years to form another city creativity index report.
The original data are all from the statistical yearbooks, bulletins and relevant government public data of the cities, which ensures the authenticity, objectivity and authority of the analysis.
The results show that China’s cultural industry development is still manifesting a serious imbalance in regional development.
As per the cluster center value of the CCCI, all cities can be divided into three echelons. Shenzhen breaks into the first echelon for the first time this year, following Beijing and Shanghai. Eight cities are in the second echelon and 39 in the third echelon.
The investment in the cultural industry is positively related to the level of urban development, said the report.
For instance, in previous years, only Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong spent more than 100 billion yuan (US$15.31 billion) on cultural development. This year, Shenzhen has made it onto the list with strong momentum.