Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang province ranked 18th nationwide in terms of development opportunities, according to the "City of Opportunity 2020" report issued by the China Development Research Foundation and PricewaterhouseCoopers on Sept 7. 

The city ranked one spot higher than last year.

The report has been published for seven years since its inception in 2014. A total of 42 cities across the nation are selected and evaluated based on 10 indicators, including economic growth, social services, infrastructure, natural environment, and influence.

In the overall rankings, the top 10 cities were: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Hong Kong, and Zhengzhou.

In terms of dimensional integration, Ningbo ranked third in "sustainable development", whcih not only refers to the sustainable development of natural environment but also the the city's population mobility.

The city reported a permanent resident population of 8.542 million at the end of 2019, 340,000 more than the previous year. It topped the nation in terms of net talent inflow rate in the manufacturing sector, according to official data.

It also ranked high in terms of "open economy". In the first half of this year, the value of the city's imports and exports reached 430.75 billion yuan ($62.42 billion), surpassing major foreign trade cities like Guangzhou and Tianjin.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, four foreign Fortune 500 companies, including Daimler, Fresenius, and Walmart, have invested in Ningbo this year, demonstrating the city's strong economic resilience.