QINGDAO has ranked 11th most competitive of its domestic counterparts, according to a blue paper released by Chinese Academy of Social Sciences on May 6.

    Chinese cities were experiencing fast growth and narrowing disparity in the competition in 2011, according to the blue paper, which covered 294 cities including those in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

    Hong Kong was first in the rankings, followed by Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen, Changsha (9) and Hangzhou (10) made their first appearance in the top 10.

    Cities in the southeast of the country dominated the top 50 while comparatively weak competitiveness remained in the cities in the northeast, central, southwest and northwest, according to the blue paper.

    In addition, Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin and Chongqing had narrowed the disparity with Hong Kong in competitiveness last year.(Li Hao)