Han Ximin

    ximhan@126.com

    SHENZHEN retained its third position among China’s 10 most attractive cities for foreigners in 2014.

    Shanghai and Beijing remained No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the 2014 ranking announced at the Conference on International Exchange of Professionals (CIEP) that concluded yesterday.

    Other cities included in the top 10 include Tianjin, Qingdao, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Suzhou, Xiamen and Kunming, according to the results, which were put together by the International Talent magazine.

    The selection, organized by the International Talent magazine and China Society for Research on International Professionals Personnel Exchange and Development, was made between July and December last year with participation from about 21,000 voting foreigners.

    The final cities were selected by a 33-member panel of expats that included Friendship Award winners and professionals included in the national experts program, according to Liu Yanguo, deputy chief with the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs.

    The participants evaluated cities on four major indexes including cities’ policies towards foreigners, the political environment, the working environment and the living environment.

    Visa procedures, education, medical care and environmental issues were the top concerns of surveyed foreigners who want to live in China, the magazine said.

    Beijing and Shanghai both got low marks in categories related to nature and the environment. The survey showed most foreign professionals work and live in China’s economically developed areas, especially the Bohai economic zone, the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta.

    The CIEP also named eight cities that provided good services for foreigners. Wuhan and Dalian ranked prominently for their policies towards foreign professionals, Changchun and Wuhan did well in the area of government service, Chongqing and Nanjing were applauded for the working environment they provide, and Lijiang and Chengdu were noted for their living environment.

    It also revealed five county-level cities, namely Jiangyin in Jiangsu, Kunshan in Jiangsu, Yiwu in Zhejiang, Shaoxing in Zhejiang and Changshu in Jiangsu, as the most well-known county-level cities among foreigners.

    The CIEP, which was approved by the State Council and started in 2001, is the largest and highest-level exchange platform targeting foreign expert agencies, training institutions and professionals. (More on P2, 3)