The 2006 list of cities with the best investment environment was recently announced by the National Bureau of Statistics. Beijing, Tianjin and Shenyang took the first three places. Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, Qingdao, Guangzhou and Shenzhen also ranked in the top ten.

Zhang Weimin, the deputy director of the National Bureau of Statistics of China, said that the investment strategy in every area of China has been changing. The focus has shifted from quantity to quality, from investment volume to investment structure, from preferential policy competition to investment environment competition. The most important element of the investment environment has shifted from hardware construction to perfecting the software environment.

Seventy-one percent of cities listed as having the best investment environment are from the eastern part of the country, sixteen percent are from the central part of the country and thirteen percent are from the west. Eastern cities have the advantage; half the listed cities are in Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shandong. This indicates the advantages of the invest environment in cities in the Zhujiang River Delta, Changjiang River Delta and around Bohai New Area.

By People's Daily Online