Survey for 2015 Most Attractive Chinese Cities for expats kicks off
New categories showcase expats' preferences
On top of the top 10 cities, several new lists were added for this year's survey.
For the list of expats' favorite cities in West China, Chengdu was at a clear advantage among the 12 nominees, all capitals the 12 provinces in West China.
Chengdu municipality, also the starting point of the Southern Silk Road, has always held an important strategic position in geopolitical strategies southwards and as part of the "Belt and Road Initiatives".
In "Comparison between Chinese and international cities on attractiveness to talents ", San Francisco, London, New York, Toronto, Singapore, Sydney, Washington, Berlin, Los Angeles and Hong Kong were selected as the top ten cities that attracted the talented. 15 experts from International City Management Association (ICMA) and expats voted for the top ten.
Shanghai and Beijing ranked 12th and 16th, respectively. Interestingly, second-tier cities like Qingdao (19th) and Hangzhou (20th) performed better than first-tier cities Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Tianjin.
According to the survey, the biggest shortcoming for internationalization of Chinese cities is the yet-to-mature policies on recruiting talents. Only Shanghai and Beijing received votes from ICMA and none of the other Chinese cities did.
For government affairs, only Qingdao, Shanghai and Beijing received votes where Qingdao was acknowledged the most, ranking 12th in 30 cities. Shanghai and Beijing ranked 13th and 15th.
Xi remains the "face of China"
This year's survey asked an open question on who the participants regarded as the "face of China".
Chinese president Xi Jinping ranked first at 11.7%, followed by Chairman Mao Zedong at 4.2%, kung fu superstar Jackie Chan at 3.7%, Alibaba founder Jack Ma at 2.7% and basketball player Yao Ming at 1.9%.
In general, political figures left deeper impressions on foreign experts, attracting 18.2% of the votes. Aside from Xi, Mao and Deng Xiaoping, Premier Li Keqiang, former premier Wen Jiabao, politician Dr. Sun Yat-sen and former premier Zhou Enlai were also very popular.
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