In light of the soaring increase of operational cost, it is not rare for the manufacturing industry in Yangtze River Delta region and Pear River Delta Region to move outward. Here comes the question, where should these plants move?

Forbes Chinese version released a sub-list of the ranking of the finest commercial cities 2005 in Chinese mainland: the best Chinese cities for setting up plants.

Forbes Chinese version calculated and analyzed relevant data of 206 candidate cities, and finally chose 20 cities that are good for setting up plants according to three indexes, namely, operational costs, quality of labourers as well as convenience of transport. These 20 cities enlisted are: Jilin and Changchun in Jilin province, Fuzhou in Fujian province, Xiangtan, Changsha and Yueyang in Hunan province, Xiangfan, Yichang, Wuhan and Jingmen in Hubei province, Baotou in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Jinan and Dongying in Shandong province, Daqin in Helongjiang province, Luoyang in Henan province, Chendu in Sichuan province, Dalian and Wafangdian in Liaonin province, Wuxi in Jiangsu province, Hangzhou in Zhejiang province.

Expert pointed out that "being cheap" is not the only crucial factor for selection. The average ranking of these 20 cities in terms of operational cost is 96th, being rather costly among all 206 candidate cities. However in terms of labourers' quality and transport convenience, the average ranking of the enlisted cities is around 44th and 46th. Currently, these cities could not be the hotspots for investment. However, if new plants are to be set up in these cities, they will probably enjoy advantage of cost within next five years.

By People's Daily Online