The Milken Institute's Best-Performing Cities in China series analyzes the latest and most comprehensive official data to continue tracking the recent economic performance of Chinese cities. Who is the winner this year?
The second annual «Best-Performing Cities China Index», unveiled on Monday at the Yale Center in Beijing, shows that Guiyang’s growth in jobs, wages, gross domestic product (GDP), and foreign direct investment (FDI) puts it first among the first- and second-tier cities in China, followed by Shanghai and Tianjin in second and third place, respectively, for the second year in a row.
Moving up from 11th place last year, Guiyang grabs the crown in the 2016 first- and second-tier city ranking. Its performance in growth of jobs, wages, GRP, and FDI are all among the Top 10.
Despite its location in the less-developed southwest, the city has benefited from the central government's effort to bridge the gap between the coastal and inland regions. In particular, the OBOR initiative helps Guiyang receive more investment, stimulating growth.
Insight Into Economic Trends
The main purpose of this series is to offer a tool to monitor and evaluate the economic dynamics of cities in China and improve their performance.
In addition, this work provides businesses with insight into economic trends to explore potential investment opportunities in China.
The 2016 ranking index incorporates nine indicators: one-year (2013-2014) and five-year (2009-2014) job growth, one- and five-year wage growth, one- and five-year gross regional product (GRP) per-capita growth, three-year (2011-2014) foreign direct investment (FDI) growth, the share of FDI and GRP (2014), and the location quotient (LQ) for high value-added industry employment (2014).
Like last year, the Milken Institute also presents two separate rankings-one for the first- and second-tier cities and the other for the third-tier cities-to reflect the fact that cities belonging to the former group are normally larger in size and receive more support from the central government.
