(Yicai Global) Sept. 21 – London-based commercial think-tank, consultancy and venture firm, Z/Yen Group Ltd. has released the 22nd edition of its Global Financial Centers Index (GFCI22) report, with Shanghai reaching sixth place, entering the top 10 for the first time. The city ranked 13th in last year's report.

GFCI is the world's most authoritative financial center ranking index, basing its assessments on business environment, financial sector development, infrastructure factors, human capital, reputation and other general factors.

Shanghai made improvements in its score for all criteria compared with last year. The city's business environment saw the biggest improvement, advancing 10 places, while its reputation moved up eight. The city's human capital and financial sector development both improved four spots while infrastructure gained one place.

The GFCI22's accompanying questionnaire showed that international financial professionals' assessment of Shanghai has also generally improved while their perspective on traditional finance hubs New York, Zurich, Toronto and Sydney declined.

Hong Kong and Singapore are the most prominent international financial centers in the Asia Pacific region and Shanghai is far away from them, said the report's lead author Mark Yeandle. However, as China's financial services continue to open-up, Shanghai is catching up and the gap between Shanghai and Hong Kong and Singapore will soon narrow, he added.