For the fourth straight year, Shanghai took the crown for the most competitive city in China, according to the 15th Global City Competitiveness Ranking released by Hong Kong-based China Institute of City Competitiveness (CICC).

Hong Kong and Shenzhen ranked second and third, respectively.

The survey, which took a year to complete, compared the comprehensive competitiveness of 358 Chinese cities at the prefecture level and above in 2016.

The list is based on a GN China City Competitiveness Index System, which includes hundreds of specific indexes, covering economy, society, environment and culture.

Apart from the competitiveness ranking, CICC also released other city rankings such as safest Chinese cities, most beautiful cities in the world and best tourist cities in the world.

The CICC was founded in 1997 in Hong Kong and has released China City Competitiveness Rankings since 2002.

The following are the top 10 competitive cities in China in 2016.

 Nanjing, Jiangsu Province

Nanjing, Jiangsu Province [China.org.cn]

Score: 5,897.48