(Yicai Global) March 14 -- Shanghai now ranks as the fifth-best global financial center and is narrowing the gap between three of the top four places, London, Hong Kong and Singapore. 

The Chinese metropolis widened its gap with first place New York, however, state-backed The Paper reported, citing Z/Yen Partners and the China Development Institute's Global Financial Center Index. The rankings score important finance hubs in terms of business environment, human resources, infrastructure, development and reputation, and were unveiled at the Global Financial Summit in Dubai on March 11.

The top cities in order were New York, London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai, Tokyo, Toronto, Zurich, Beijing and Frankfurt.

The top five were unchanged from last year with very little change in scores, though Shanghai managed to rack up 770 points, just 17 points behind London, 13 behind Hong Kong and 2 behind Singapore. It was previously trailing 20, 17 and 3 points, and in 2007 was as far as 193 points behind the British capital.

The Big Apple managed to widen its lead over the pack, expanding the gap with Shanghai to 24 points from 22.

Seven other Chinese cities made the overall list: Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Qingdao, Tianjin, Chengdu, Hangzhou and Dalian.

Editor: James Boynton