Qingdao ranked 10th in a recently-published list of the top 10 sustainable competitive cities in China.

This selection is part of a research project relating to Chinese cities' competitiveness, which has been sponsored by the National Academy of Economic Strategy under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences since 2003.

In addition to economic indexes, the research also studied the comprehensive competitiveness of almost 300 cities at the prefecture level or above in China to provide sustainable development strategy reference for decision-makers.

In this year's report, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing were the top three cities in sustainable competitiveness. Qingdao replaced Xiamen to make the list.

From the report, the selected cities were concentrated in the Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta Economic Zone and Circum-Bohai Sea Region. These areas will continue leading the way in the transformation of Chinese cities.

In another report about the top 10 harmonious cities in China, Qingdao placed eighth.