Shenzhen moved up one spot to take first place in terms of ease of doing business and has continued to rank first in technological maturity among 47 Chinese cities in a report jointly released by the China Development Research Foundation (CDRF) and accounting firm PwC China on Friday.
The city was among the top five in other criteria such as major regional cities, resilience, sustainable development, culture and quality of life, as well as economic clout, according to the Chinese Cities of Opportunity 2022 report.
According to James Chang, managing partner of regional economic clusters and south markets at PwC China, Shenzhen’s top position in ease of doing business this year has highlighted the soft power of the city’s business environment, which means that Shenzhen is not only attractive to multinational companies and innovative enterprises, but also shows great economic vitality and potential.
The report, issued annually by the CDRF and PwC China since 2014, is also a survey that tracks and observes Chinese cities from different perspectives. The cities under observation cover the central and node cities of major city clusters in China, including the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).
The report adopts PwC’s city assessment tools and looks into cities’ economic growth, society and people’s well-being, urban infrastructure, natural environment, population, city governance and influence, among others.
This year’s report has paid special attention to urban innovation and sustainable growth.
Overall, the top four cities in the report remained to be Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. The next top 10 cities were Hangzhou, Nanjing, Chengdu, Ningbo, Suzhou, Wuhan, Hong Kong, Chongqing, Changsha and Zhengzhou.
According to the report, urbanization is entering a new stage of development. In the coming years, the focus of China’s urban development will be the development of metropolitan areas and urban clusters led by central “hub” cities, deepening coordinated regional development and promoting green development.