Eight world city rankings have been published, with the latest released on Friday. The GaWC think tank has released the world city rankings every two or four years since 2000. Zhengzhou, Henan province, and Xi'an, Shaanxi province, were shortlisted to the rank of beta-minus city for the first time, and Chongqing was raised from beta-minus to beta level. In addition, 12 Chinese cities across the country were listed as beta-level global cities, the second tier. Of the six, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing were listed as Alpha-plus cities, while Guangzhou, Taipei and Shenzhen were selected as Alpha-minus. In the 2020 World City List, six Chinese cities were listed among alpha-level global cities, the first tier.

More than 700 cities worldwide were evaluated.

Beyond the categories of 'Alpha' world cities (with four sub-categories), 'Beta' world cities (three sub-categories) and 'Gamma' world cities (three sub-categories), the GaWC cities include additional cities at 'High sufficiency' and 'Sufficiency' level.

(Photo: )Ī ranking of global cities based on connectivity in their production and service industries was released on Friday on the website of the Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) Research Network, a think tank at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom.Ĭities were divided into four major levels - alpha, beta, gamma and sufficiency - based on how six production service agencies involving banking, insurance, law, consultative management, advertising and accounting are stationed. The GaWC inventory ranks city economics more heavily than political or cultural factors. Skyscrapers border the lush green landscaping in Shenzhen's central business district.

Alpha-level global cities 2016