Survey reveals China's top 10 cities

China Central Television released its list of China's 10 best cities to live in for 2019 and 2020 on July 6, including Shanghai, Changsha, Changchun, Beijing, Qingdao, Kunming, Jinan, Haikou, Shenzhen and Xiamen. The rankings are in Chinese character stroke order.

Launched by the National Bureau of Statistics, China Post Group and the National Institute of Development at Peking University, the survey collected 130,000 responses from people around the country.

Sense of contentment, happiness and security are the three top criteria of the survey, with the public having high satisfaction in water and air quality, security, medical service, education and green spaces.

One detail worth noting is that residents in second- and third-tier cities have higher satisfaction in water and air quality, as well as city image, than first-tier city residents. However, people living in first-tier cities are more satisfied with medical service and elderly care.

Education quality in third-tier cities witnessed rapid improvement, which added to people's satisfaction, the survey said.

The survey also noted the public has higher expectations for internet governance, food safety and inclusiveness, as well as social morality.

Hefei, Qingdao, Kunming, Haikou and Xiamen are the best cities to live in according to people aged from 18 to 35. For people aged 36 to 59, the top five best cities to live in are Changsha, Changchun, Chongqing, Jinan and Shenzhen, the survey said.