Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen top in city ranking

The planning department of China's top economic regulator and an international think tank have jointly released a ranking of Chinese cities, aiming to offer a comprehensive assessment of the quality and sustainability of their development and to explore the future path of the country's urbanization.

The China Integrated City Index 2017, developed by the National Development and Reform Commission's development planning department and Cloud River Urban Research Institute, analyzed and evaluated 297 Chinese cities based on three main dimensions - society, economy and environment. The Index is an annual ranking of Chinese cities and the first edition was published in 2016.

Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen are the top three cities in the overall ranking of 2017, followed by Guangzhou and Tianjin in the fourth and fifth positions. Shanghai was the top city under the economic index while Shenzhen led the ranking in terms of environmental quality.