For the fifth time in six years, Qingdao was listed among cities attractive to international talents, according to an official survey released at the 14th Conference on International Exchange of Professionals in Shenzhen, on April 15.

The port city ranked 19th among the top 30 and fourth among Chinese cities, following Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing.

Launched in 2010, the survey "Amazing China-The Top 10 Attractive Chinese Cities for Foreigners" was the only national list of cities voted for entirely by expats.

This year, 15 officials from the International City Management Association and more than 48,000 expats throughout China participated in the survey both online and offline. Los Angeles, London and New York topped the list. Other listed Chinese cities included Hangzhou, Xiamen, Kunming, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Suzhou and Tianjin.

According to a foreign expert working in the city, Qingdao is an open city boasting bright development prospects and a sound investment environment, which are attractive to overseas businesses.

According to statistics from the Qingdao Foreign Experts Bureau, of the 13,500 expats who study and live in this coastal city, 8,200 are permanent residents.

But the quantity of talents is not the sole criteria behind the great results. During the past few years, Qingdao has attracted a large number of foreign specialists owing to its flexible, high-level talents introduction policy. So far at least, five expats in Qingdao have been selected for the national Thousand Talent Program for Non-natives, and 35 into the national high-end projects for foreign professionals. From 2011 to 2015, the annual growth rate of professional expat incomers with a master’s degree or above exceeded 15 percent.