London topped the world's most influential cities list released by Forbes recently, followed by New York and Paris. The city, which is home to the headquarters of 68 companies on the 2012 Forbes Global 2000 list, has a long history of dominating the global financial services industry.

The selection focuses on eight factors such as the amount of foreign investment the cities have attracted, connectivity by air (ease of travel to other global cities), financial services and strength in technology and media, rather than the size of cities.

Because of their rapid economic development, impressive infrastructure, great investment environment and services and their growing overall economies, two Chinese cities ranked on the list.

Let's take a look at the top 10 most influential cities in the world:

   Toronto

Toronto [nipic.com]

FDI Transactions (Five year avg.): 60

Forbes Global 2000 HQs: 23

Connectivity by air: 49%

Global Financial Centers Index Rank: 11