Six Chinese cities are among the top 100 competitive cities in the world, according to a survey report released by a top Chinese think tank on Wednesday.

Shanghai wins the honor of the fastest growing city in the global top 50. It ranks 37th, a climb of nine places on its previous listing in 2008, according to the global Urban Competitiveness Report (2009-10) released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).

"The pattern of urban competitiveness in the world is changing dramatically, and Chinese cities are rapidly upgrading their rankings," Ni Pengfei, a CASS professor, said at a press briefing in Beijing.

"In addition to economic development, technological innovation and international influence are increasingly important in promoting a city's comprehensive competitiveness," he said.

Hong Kong, up one place from 11th, is the only Chinese city that ranks in the top 10 cities in terms of global urban comprehensive competitiveness, according to the report.

Beijing moved up nine places to 59th. Taipei was up three to 38, and Macao rose from 98 to 93.

However, Shenzhen fell two places to 71.

However, the report also shows that nine of the top 10 cities in terms of economic growth rate are Chinese cities: Erdos, Baotou, Yantai, Hohhot, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Rizhao, Huizhou and Weihai.

The only city in the economic growth top 10 from outside China is Baku from Azerbaijan.

The survey, led by Ni and professor Peter Karl Kresl of Bucknell University in the United States, covers 500 cities around the world, and collected data on six indices including the scale of gross domestic product, GDP per capita, GDP per square kilometer, real GDP growth, number of international patents and multinational corporation index.

US and European cities continue to provide the peak of urban competitiveness, despite the global economic crisis, according to the report.