Which is the most vibrant business city in China? Forbes Magazine has for the first time answered the question by releasing its ranking of the mainland's 100 best business cities for 2004. Surprisingly, neither Shanghai nor Beijing is very high on the list.

The survey examined 191 Chinese cities whose 2002 GDP was above 10 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion). Private economy, market scale and potential, human resources, operating costs, traffic and other factors were used to rate the top 100.

While people generally regard Shanghai as a top investment destination, neighboring Hangzhou took the title by ranking high in overall business strength. Another eastern city, Ningbo, took second place, while Dalian, in the northeast, came in third.

Shanghai made it into fourth place, and Beijing came up sixth. Forbes says that although Shanghai is the country's leader in many business areas, soaring housing prices, traffic problems and a high population all affect the city's overall business performance.

(CRI September 7, 2004)