Ningbo has once again secured its position among the 15 new first-tier cities in China in 2024, as reported by the news portal yicai.com on May 30.

Located in East China's Zhejiang province, the city claimed the 13th spot among the new first-tier cities, marking an improvement of one place compared to the previous year.

The assessment was conducted based on five key criteria: concentration of commercial resources, urban transportation capacity, urban population vitality, new economic competitiveness, and future potential. An additional 16 secondary criteria and 61 tertiary criteria were also used to evaluate the overall appeal of 337 cities at the prefecture level or above.

The 15 new first-tier cities in 2024, ranked by their attractiveness, are Chengdu, Hangzhou, Chongqing, Suzhou, Wuhan, Xi'an, Nanjing, Changsha, Tianjin, Zhengzhou, Dongguan, Wuxi, Ningbo, Qingdao, and Hefei.

According to the report, the competition between new first-tier and second-tier cities remains intense this year. Wuxi in East China's Jiangsu province reclaimed its position on the list with a significant leap of 6 places, securing the 12th spot among the new first-tier cities. In contrast, Kunming, capital city of Yunnan province, has regressed to a second-tier city.