My response is totally parochial. But first, commiserations on Ezhou! the Ezhou citizens need to seriously start lobbying Yicai about their changed methodologies!!
Suzhou, 加油！Wu Zixu planned his city for eternal prosperity so of course it's up there. Should be higher. Come on guys!
Qingdao, go! Go Qingdao! If you have your central heating sorted, a great place to live.
I must say a word for Guangdong Yunfu. It's not such a bad little town. I've been there.
Great to see Gansu and Guizhou lifting themselves out of poverty.
Love to hear more about the methodologies and how they've changed!
China’s four first-tier cities contain 84 million people and generate more than USD 2.6 trillion in annual output. Their weighted GDP per capita is already in the same level of Japan and South Korea, while many aspects of urban infrastructure and daily life are fully comparable.
The 15 new first-tier cities add another 203 million people. Together, China’s 19 leading cities contain nearly 290 million residents and generate one-third of the country’s GDP. Their combined economy would be larger than Germany, Japan or India.
Below them sit another 30 second-tier cities and 70 third-tier cities. Many already occupy the same broad development range as the world’s large upper-middle-income economies such as Russia, Turkey, Brazil and Mexico.
China is still a middle-income country on average. But inside China already exists a developed-economy-scale urban system larger than the population of almost every country on earth.
It’s so much fun for me to read this report from a foreigner’s perspective, and I really love your angle of using the numbers! I literally cracked up when I read the part where you showed how mediocre Shanxi is.
Even though I’m from Guangzhou myself, I can feel that GZ has kind of been losing momentum in recent years. While I still see it as a strong S-tier city, I’m afraid it might lose its spot if it doesn’t accelerate. There’s so much potential in my beloved hometown, and I truly wish it can do better!
Dalian this year is #26. Once upon a time (2016) it was ranked as highly as #16 but it's been struggling over the last 9 years, relative to its peers. I don't think it's actually declined per se, but it's definitely not keeping pace.
I thoroughly appreciated these two pieces! So informative and useful - thank you 🙏🏻
Hebei Rising!
This is so so much fun. Thank you for crunching the numbers
I enjoyed this article waaaaay too much!!
My response is totally parochial. But first, commiserations on Ezhou! the Ezhou citizens need to seriously start lobbying Yicai about their changed methodologies!!
Suzhou, 加油！Wu Zixu planned his city for eternal prosperity so of course it's up there. Should be higher. Come on guys!
Qingdao, go! Go Qingdao! If you have your central heating sorted, a great place to live.
I must say a word for Guangdong Yunfu. It's not such a bad little town. I've been there.
Great to see Gansu and Guizhou lifting themselves out of poverty.
Love to hear more about the methodologies and how they've changed!
Can't wait for that Essay!
Enjoyed this, thanks.
Great essay and great insights!
From macro perspective, just to add some colors:
China’s four first-tier cities contain 84 million people and generate more than USD 2.6 trillion in annual output. Their weighted GDP per capita is already in the same level of Japan and South Korea, while many aspects of urban infrastructure and daily life are fully comparable.
The 15 new first-tier cities add another 203 million people. Together, China’s 19 leading cities contain nearly 290 million residents and generate one-third of the country’s GDP. Their combined economy would be larger than Germany, Japan or India.
Below them sit another 30 second-tier cities and 70 third-tier cities. Many already occupy the same broad development range as the world’s large upper-middle-income economies such as Russia, Turkey, Brazil and Mexico.
China is still a middle-income country on average. But inside China already exists a developed-economy-scale urban system larger than the population of almost every country on earth.
What an awesome article!
It’s so much fun for me to read this report from a foreigner’s perspective, and I really love your angle of using the numbers! I literally cracked up when I read the part where you showed how mediocre Shanxi is.
Even though I’m from Guangzhou myself, I can feel that GZ has kind of been losing momentum in recent years. While I still see it as a strong S-tier city, I’m afraid it might lose its spot if it doesn’t accelerate. There’s so much potential in my beloved hometown, and I truly wish it can do better!
That was a fun and interesting 2-part article!
As a T4 son-in-law of Datong, I'm happy to see it *almost* claimed the spot for most average city.
And I wonder if Guiyang's rise has been significantly influenced by the big data industry that has been centred there in recent years.
-Ed Sander
Where's Dalian?
I'll hang up and listen for your reply.
Dalian this year is #26. Once upon a time (2016) it was ranked as highly as #16 but it's been struggling over the last 9 years, relative to its peers. I don't think it's actually declined per se, but it's definitely not keeping pace.
Thank you for what you're writing!