Kunming regains its status as new first-tier city
Central Yunnan’s Kunming city has returned to the club of Chinese "new first-tier cities", according to the Ranking of Cities' Business Attractiveness in China 2023 released by the Rising Lab on May 30.
A view of Kunming city. File photo/Yunnan Daily
Ranking 13th among the chosen 15 Chinese new first-tier cities, the spring city replaced Foshan in south China’s Guangdong province, which had previously been climbing. Former new first-tier cities Shenyang and Wuxi dropped to the second-tier.
Kunming first entered the “new first-tier city” club in 2019, when it ranked last among the 15 peers. This year, the city regained its title largely for its function as a region hub for transport, and in this respect it ranked 10th among all Chinese cities.
The 15 new first-tier cities in the 2023 list are Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Suzhou, Xi'an, Nanjing, Changsha, Tianjin, Zhengzhou, Dongguan, Qingdao, Kunming, Ningbo and Hefei.
A view of Kunming city. File photo/Yunnan Daily
Using urban big data from 17 internet companies and data agencies, the research lab under Shanghai media group Yicai evaluated 337 cities at the prefecture level and above based on five first-level dimensions: concentration of commercial resources, city hub, activity of city residents, diversity of lifestyle and future plasticity.
“It’s good news for Kunming to reenter the “new first-tier city” club, but more importantly, the city needs more central business districts to sustain its competitiveness. Only by creating the business environment that conforms to modern commerce, can it invite in more investment and business professionals,” said a Yunnan Net comment.
Based on the Luosiwan international mall, the Dounan flower market and markets selling tea, coffee and wild mushrooms, Kunming can create more business hubs that collect domestic specialties from Yunnan and other Chinese provinces, as well as imported specialties from South Asia and Southeast Asia, the commentator suggested.
A business district in downtown Kunming. File photo/Yunnan Daily
Source: Yunnan Net, Kunming Daily and China Daily; Trans-editing by Wang Shixue