The results of a survey conducted by Mercer, a global consulting firm for trusted HR and related financial advice, products and services, showed that the cost of living in Beijing is higher than in New York for expatriates.

According to the survey results, the world's costliest living cities in 2011 are Luanda in Angola, Tokyo in Japan and N'Djamena in Chad forexpatriates.

Five Chinese cities made the list of the world's top 50 most expensive cities - Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, ranking ninth, 20th, 21st, 38th and 43th, respectively.

While New York, which is used as the base city of the survey, ranked 32nd in the list, indicating the cost of living there is lower than in Beijing.

The survey covers 214 cities across five continents and measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment. It is the world's most comprehensive cost of living survey.