(Yicai Global) March 30 -- Shanghai ranked first, followed by Shenzhen and Nanjing, in an assessment of the development environment for small businesses in 36 Chinese cities, according to a report released today.

Shanghai’s advantages are mainly reflected in four aspects, the China Center for Promotion of SME Development, under the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said in the report.

First, small- and medium-sized companies have greater access to sources of financing, and the role of policy-based financing guarantees is obvious.

Second, support for entrepreneurship and innovation is greater, while the city’s investment in research and development is high. The commercialization of local SMEs’ scientific and technological successes is also significantly better.

Third, Shanghai has a good economic and financial foundation with active market participants. It is attractive to talent with an overall higher level of human resources.

And finally, the eastern Chinese metropolis has steadily improved the efficiency and level of its government services, with complete logistics infrastructure and a dense network of highways, railroads, airlines and ports.

Guangzhou and Beijing came fourth and fifth, respectively, the report said.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology conducted a nationwide assessment of the SME development environment for the first time last year.

It made a comprehensive evaluation of the environment covering the market, rule of law, financing, innovation and policy through data filling, corporate questionnaires and statistical data inquiries.

Nine of the top 10 cities are in the east of the country, while five of the bottom 10 cities are in the west, with two in the northeast.

On the whole, the higher scores for rule of law and policy environments show a balanced overall performance among the cities, with relatively small gaps between the top and bottom ranked cities. 

The lower scores for the financing, innovation and market environments, meanwhile, indicate a wide overall performance gap between the cities, the report said.

Editor: Peter Thomas