Guiyang tops list of best-performing cities

Guiyang, the capital city of southwestern China's Guizhou province, topped the list of best-performing cities in China, beating even a couple of coastal megacities, according to an economic study released by the Milken Institute on Monday.

The independent US economic think tank based its study on a mix of economic factors in 33 first- and second-tier cities and 232 third-tier cities across China. These cities are evaluated by their growth in jobs, wages and regional gross domestic product over one and five years, levels of foreign direct investment and proximity of high value-added industry employment.

Guiyang, which moved from the 11th position in last year's inaugural ranking, to the top position this year, is followed by Shanghai and the northern port city of Tianjin, which came in second and third in the ranking, as they did last year.