Qingdao, together with 14 other cities, made the list of China's new first-tier cities, according to a survey by CBN Weekly.

CBNweekly ranked 400 Chinese cities other than traditional metropolises like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen across 10 categories including brand density; number of premium brands entering; GDP; per capita income; number of colleges and universities; number of companies ranking on Fortune's Global 500; and airport throughput.

On the basis of the 10 individual rankings, CBNweekly has calculated the comprehensive business index for each city.

In China, when people want to rate a city's development level, the first consideration would be its administrative level. However, in accordance with the international understanding, a city in the modern sense of the word is a product of commercial and industrial development and a land for capital, talent, goods and information exchange.

Apart from Qingdao, the other 14 cities that are rated as first-tier by the survey are Chengdu, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Wuhan, Tianjin, Xi'an, Chongqing, Shenyang, Changsha, Dalian, Xiamen, Wuxi, Fuzhou and Jinan; the "new second-tier" cities include 36 cities such as Ningbo, Kunming, Zhengzhou, Hefei and Changzhou.