Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang province was ranked 16th among the nation's top 100 cities in comprehensive strength in 2021, according to a recent report.

The report published by the Warton Economic Institute on May 21 evaluated the top 110 Chinese cities based on factors like gross domestic product, government revenue, environment, science and education, culture and health. Beijing was ranked China's top city, followed by Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Suzhou, Chengdu, Wuhan and Wuxi.

The report is released annually by the Warton Economic Institute, a Shanghai-based organization focused on the research of macro and regional economies and enterprises analysis.

The ranking for Ningbo showed a general upward trend over the previous years. The city was ranked 17th, 20th, 20th, 18th and 15th respectively in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2020.

Official statistics show that Ningbo's GDP stood at 1.24087 trillion yuan ($190.9 billion) in 2020, ranking 12th nationwide.

The city's total financial revenue reached 283.56 billion yuan, among which revenue from general public budget reached 151.08 billion yuan, ranking 11th in the nation.

The city's scores in deposits, science and education, and culture and health were relatively low.

The balance of domestic and foreign currency deposits in Ningbo amounted to 2.39882 trillion yuan by the end of last year, ranking 14th nationwide but less than half of Hangzhou's.

The city's strength in science and education is expected to be heightened as it has introduced a large number of R&D organs and set up domestic prestigious universities and institutes including Northwestern Polytechnical University, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics.