Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Economic Daily jointly released The 16th Report on China City Competitiveness recently. The report selected 40 cities with most successful economic development in the past 40 years, including Zhongshan, from more than 280 prefecture-level (or above) cities across the country.

In addition, Zhongshan ranks 25th and 34th respectively in “China City Comprehensive Competitiveness” and “Livable Competitiveness”.

In terms of provincial distribution, Guangdong has the largest number of 8 cities selected as the “China’s 40 Cities with Most Successful Economic Development”.

From 2013 to 2016, Shaoguan, Jiangmen, Zhongshan, Foshan and Shanwei are the top five cities in GDP growth rate among 14 cities in Pearl River Delta, while Guangzhou and Shenzhen, both are the central cities, rank only 8th and 14th respectively. It manifests that in the urban agglomeration of Chinese eastern developed regions the central city elements and industries are spilling over to the surrounding cities and areas.