Beijing ranked 43rd and Shanghai 47th on the new Anholt GMI City Brands Index, which measures the international appeal of the world's great cities.

The researchers asked 15,000 people across the world to rank 60 famous cities in terms of culture, people, travel destination appeal, lifestyle and career.

An expert from Anholt GMI said the 2008 Beijing Olympics will improve the city's brand in the future, though the world already recognizes and praises the unique architecture in the city. Respondents ranked Beijing ninth out of ten fast growing cities in terms of the appeal of the city's buildings and parks.

Beijing also came fourth in terms of its appeal as a travel destination.

Shanghai was considered in the poll for the first time this year and ranked higher than Beijing in terms of business and employment opportunities. When respondents were asked which cities they would choose to set-up a company in, Shanghai was ranked 17th and Beijing 20th.

Thirty new cities were included in the index this year, including Shanghai, Melbourne, Vancouver, Seattle and Las Vegas. The index aims to demonstrate people respond to city "brands", just as they respond to car brands and clothing brands.

The index ranked Sydney as the world's top city.

(CRI January 28, 2007)