City ranks second in urban competitiveness

Shenzhen ranked second in comprehensive urban competitiveness among Chinese cities in 2021, following Shanghai, according to a report released in Beijing on Tuesday.

Other cities in the top 5 were Hong Kong, Beijing and Guangzhou, while Suzhou, Taipei, Nanjing, Wuhan and Wuxi ranked between sixth and 10th.

Shenzhen also took a leading place in terms of economic vitality and local elements competitiveness among Chinese cities.

The report, compiled by researchers led by Ni Pengfei, assistant to the president of the National Academy of Economic Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, surveyed and compared 291 cities nationwide around indexes in comprehensive economic and sustainable competitiveness and other subcategories.

Shenzhen took second place in sustainable competitiveness, after Hong Kong and was followed by Taipei, Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou.

The city ranked first in local elements index in the urban economic competitiveness subcategory. "The high ranking can be attributed to Shenzhen's high degree of convenience in market-based financing, high number of patent applications and high ratio of youth talent," Ni was quoted as telling Shenzhen Special Zone Daily.

Among four indexes in the sustainable competitiveness subcategory, Shenzhen ranked first in urban economic vitality and third in environmental resilience and scientific and technological innovation. Economic vitality was attributed to the high youth talent ratio and economic growth, according to the report.

"Shenzhen has sufficient power supply and low pollution," Ni said. "Its indexes in the number of patent applications and technology enterprises took the lead in the social inclusiveness subcategory."

In 2020, Shenzhen's GDP reached 2.77 trillion yuan (US$433.11 billion), ranking fifth among Asian cities, and its exports have ranked first among mainland cities for 28 straight years.