Chinese cities glisten in financial center rankings

Chinese cities have four places in the top 10 global financial centers, according to the latest edition of the Global Financial Centers Index (GFCI 32) report.

New York leads the ranking, with London second. Singapore and Hong Kong rank third and fourth, with San Francisco is in fifth place, overtaking Shanghai which is sixth, the report showed.

Los Angeles, Beijing, Shenzhen and Paris are also among the top 10 global financial centers.

The index, jointly compiled by British commercial think-tank Z/Yen Group and the China Development Institute, is generally published twice each year in March and September.

GFCI 32 presents new features and trends in the development of global financial centers amid the new economic and financial environment.

Financial market confidence is being restored at a faster pace, raising the ratings for global financial centers in general. The average rating of global financial centers in the GFCI 32 rebounded sharply by 4.83 percent from the previous edition, and has recovered to its average level when GFCI 27 was released in March 2020.

Significant changes can be seen in the top financial centre rankings, with Asian financial centers performing weaker than expected.

The world's top two financial centers, New York and London, remain unchanged. Singapore overtakes Hong Kong to become the world's third largest financial center, while Hong Kong ranks fourth with only one point separating it from Singapore.

San Francisco, meanwhile, takes over the fifth place in the rankings, while Shanghai drops two places to rank sixth.

Tokyo tumbles seven spots to the 16th, while Paris catches up to make the top 10 list.

Overall, there have been no shake-ups in the global pattern of top financial centers, while certain changes are taking place in the specific rankings of individual financial centers, the report said.

The rankings of China's financial centers rise steadily. A total of 12 financial center cities on Chinese mainland have entered the list in the latest edition of GFCI.

Beijing maintains its 8th position among global financial centers and Shenzhen moves up one spot to the 9th, further consolidating their international status as financial centers.

Chengdu moves up 3 places to 34th. Dalian, Nanjing, Hangzhou and Tianjin are gradually becoming familiar to people in finance globally, respectively rising 24, 18, 14 and 8 places in the rankings.

The index is compiled using over a hundred instrumental factors in five broad areas of competitiveness: business environment, human capital, infrastructure, financial sector development and reputation.