(Yicai Global) Nov. 3 -- Shanghai has reclaimed its crown as China’s most economically competitive city, which refers to a city’s ability to provide jobs, income, governance and the urban environment needed for its residents to prosper, after a hiatus of seven years, according to a recent survey.

The eastern metropolis jumped two places from last year, overtaking Shenzhen and Hong Kong, to take top spot, according to an annual report released by the China Academy of Social Sciences and China Social Sciences Press yesterday.

Both Shanghai’s comprehensive economic competitiveness and that for economic growth were awarded the highest mark of 1, according to the 19th Report on China’s Urban Competitiveness. Shanghai boasts strong advantages in terms of its ‘hard’ business environment, such as infrastructure, and global connections.

It scored less highly in terms of economic density at 0.756, behind Beijing, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Taipei, the survey said, which polls 291 cities nationwide. It came second in the sub-indexes of daily life environment and local factors, and third in ‘soft’ business environment, such as services, all of which have room for growth.

Shenzhen lost its title to take second place this year, while Hong Kong slid from second to third place.

Urban competitiveness in central China climbed on average 2.25 slots from last year. Sixty percent of cities in central regions, some 46, rose up the rankings while nearly half of those in the east of the country dropped. Cities in eastern China on average fell 1.42 slots.

Municipalities in the Yangtze River Delta region, one of the country’s most economically developed areas that comprises major metropolises such as Shanghai, Hangzhou and Nanjing, scored higher overall than other clusters. Although the big cities’ rankings did not change much, but that of the surrounding, smaller cities rose noticeably.

Editors: Xu Wei, Kim Taylor