CHINESE cities have become more competitive economically, with Shenzhen ranking 4th among 1,006 cities around the world that have a population of more than 500,000, according to a United Nations report, the Shenzhen Economic Daily reported yesterday.

The Global Urban Competitiveness Report 2019-2020 was jointly released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the United Nations for Human Settlement Program (U.N.-Habitat) on Tuesday.

Five Chinese cities are in the top 20, with Shenzhen, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Beijing and Guangzhou occupying the 4th, 10th, 13th and 18th places, respectively.

New York, London and Singapore are the top three cities in terms of economic competitiveness, followed by Shenzhen, San Jose, Tokyo, San Francisco, Munich, Los Angeles, Shanghai, Dallas, Houston, Hong Kong, Dublin, Seoul, Boston, Beijing, Guangzhou, Miami and Chicago.

The report, which also measures the sustainable competitiveness of global cities, points out that the sustainable competitiveness of Chinese cities has been steadily improving over the years.

Hong Kong and Shenzhen are the only two Chinese cities that enter the top 20. Hong Kong ranks 7th and Shenzhen is in the 19th spot.

Another three Chinese cities are also on the top 50 list in terms of sustainable competitiveness, with Taipei, Shanghai and Beijing taking 23rd, 29th and 38th, respectively.

(Zhang Yu)