Shenzhen, Beijing lose out to Chengdu as China’s best performing city economy, says report
- Chengdu has for the third time scooped top spot among Chinese cities for economic performance, according to Milken Institute report
- Tech hub Shenzhen dropped from first to second in the annual rankings
Fast-growing Chengdu has overtaken technology hub Shenzhen as the best performing economy of any Chinese city, according to an annual report by US-based think tank the Milken Institute.
The city shot up six places from last year to snatch top spot for the third time since 2015 in the index, which ranked 262 Chinese cities on nine growth indicators such as jobs, wages, gross regional product (GRP) per capita and foreign direct investment (FDI) growth between 2012 and 2017.
As the provincial capital of Sichuan province, Chengdu – along with Chongqing – is one of the twin growth engines in China’s western region, having cemented its place as a manufacturing hub specialising in defence-related production.
The city of some 16.33 million ranked number one in terms of employment growth, fifth for wage growth and 15th for GRP per-capita growth among China’s first- and second-tier cities, the survey said.
First-tier cities refer to municipalities directly governed by the Chinese central government and second-tier cities include capital cities of provinces, plus Dalian, Ningbo, Qingdao, Shenzhen, and Xiamen, according to the report.
The city’s geographic location inside the Diamond Economic Zone makes it an important gateway for the southwest region
Chengdu surged to number one spot thanks to strong gains in its ratio of foreign investment to GRP, as well as employment and wage growth, between 2016 and 2017, the report said.