Beijing and Shanghai are leading the way! Wharton Economic Research Institute releases the latest Top 100 Chinese Cities Ranking in Shanghai | Cities | Economy
Recently, the 2023 China Top 100 Cities Ranking was released in Shanghai. According to the list, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Suzhou, Wuhan, Chengdu, and Tianjin are among the top 10, with their rankings remaining unchanged; Chongqing, Ningbo, Wuxi, Jinan, Qingdao, Changsha, Hefei, Zhengzhou, Fuzhou, and Xi'an rank 11th to 20th. Shen Hanyao, Chairman of the China Top 100 Forum and President of the Wharton Institute of Economics, introduced that this is the ninth consecutive year that the Wharton Institute of Economics has compiled and released the list of China's Top 100 Cities.
After conducting in-depth analysis of the hard and soft power of this year's top 100 cities, the Wharton Institute of Economics stated that the top 100 cities have shown promising performance in both areas.
In terms of hard economic strength, this year's top 100 cities achieved a total regional GDP of 84.87 trillion yuan, general public budget revenue of 7.32 trillion yuan, year-end financial institution deposit balance of 19.601 trillion yuan, and a permanent population of 769 million people in the top 100 cities.
In terms of soft economic strength, the top 100 cities have a total of 2025 ordinary higher education institutions, 1.47 million full-time teachers, 19110 hospitals, 2.53 million practicing physicians, 4.11 million hospital beds, and 3593 museums. The top 100 cities have completed a total of 2427.698 billion yuan in social research and development funding, 3.7769 million patents have been granted, and the harmless treatment rate of domestic waste in 95 cities has reached 100%. The average annual PM2.5 concentration in 63 cities is below 35 µ g/m3.
Of particular concern is that the R&D investment and patent authorization obtained by the top 100 cities account for over 80% of the national total, making them the core force for China to adhere to innovation driven development and promote high-quality development through technology. In addition, the average greening rate in the built-up areas of the top 100 cities exceeds 43.2%, with an average annual PM2.5 concentration of 32.2 µ g/m3, which is far superior to the national average of 38.7% and 45 µ g/m3, indicating that the top 100 cities are leading the country in promoting green transformation of development mode and developing circular economy.
The Wharton Institute of Economics stated that the 2023 China Top 100 Cities Ranking presents several characteristics overall:
The first is to maintain a stable pattern of the top ten, with Beijing and Shanghai taking a strong lead.
Beijing and Shanghai continue to firmly occupy the top two positions, significantly leading third place Shenzhen, while Shenzhen gradually widens the gap with Guangzhou, further solidifying its position as the third city in China. The gap between Guangzhou and Hangzhou, ranked fifth, has been continuously narrowing in recent years. Hangzhou's hard economic strength has surpassed Guangzhou, and its cultural and health strength in soft economic indicators also has obvious advantages. In the future, Hangzhou should further increase its investment in the fields of environment, science and education, and make up for its shortcomings. Tianjin maintains its position in the top 10, but the gap between it and 11th ranked Chongqing is very small. Tianjin needs to accelerate the search for new economic growth points, formulate new paths and models to achieve comprehensive and balanced development, and build new advantages for urban development.
Second, the Yangtze River Delta region has performed well, and Anhui's soft power is outstanding.
For many consecutive years, Jiangsu has achieved the achievement of having all thirteen cities on the list, and the last ranked city in the province, Lianyungang, is also ranked 77th among the top 100 cities, making it a model for high-quality economic development in various provinces. In terms of the number of top 100 cities in each province, Jiangsu ranks first with 13 of them. The three cities in Anhui, Hefei, Wuhu, and Chuzhou, have all risen in rankings. Not only has Hefei made rapid progress, but the other two cities have also made significant progress. This year, Anhui has been selected as one of the three cities with a higher ranking in soft power improvement than the hard economy, especially in the field of science and education where development is more prominent. Wuhu's overall R&D investment intensity ranks 11th among the besieged cities, while Chuzhou's overall R&D investment and patent authorization have increased by 27% and 43% respectively compared to the previous year, with a considerable growth rate.
Thirdly, the top 100 cities are accelerating the process of high-quality development.
The process of building a new development pattern and promoting high-quality development is gradually accelerating in various regions. The top 100 cities have played a pioneering and exemplary role. Compared with the previous year, 77 cities have increased their R&D investment intensity, 78 cities have increased the number of full-time teachers, 89 cities have increased the number of practicing physicians, and 70 cities have seen an increase in the greening rate of built-up areas. In exploring the path of high-quality development, the top 100 cities are at the forefront of the country. At the same time, in the list of the top 100 cities, the problem of uneven development still exists. In the future, we should further coordinate and promote the western development, comprehensively revitalize the northeast, and enhance regional development balance.
