A digital workshop in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/Ningbo Daily]

Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang province was ranked 15th on the 2021 list of top 100 Chinese cities in terms of digital economy, which was recently released by CCID Consulting, a firm affiliated with a think tank under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The city was also rated as a new first-tier city in China in terms of digital economy development.

Beijing topped the ranking, followed by Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Nanjing, Tianjin, Suzhou, and Chongqing.

The ranking was made by evaluating cities from a variety of perspectives, including digital infrastructure, digital economy industries, digital governance, and data value.

Ningbo's high ranking was primarily due to the city's great efforts in seeking digital economy growth in recent years.

By the end of last year, broadband access speeds in Ningbo's urban and rural areas had reached 1,000Mbps and 500Mbps. The city had constructed more than 10,000 5G base stations, with signals covering all its key commercial blocks.

In the first half of this year, the added value of the core industries in Ningbo's digital economy sector reached 25.1 billion yuan ($3.86 billion), up 30 percent year-on-year and accounting for 11 percent of the total added value of above-designated-size enterprises in the city.

Ningbo aims to increase the added value of the digital economy to 100 billion yuan by 2025. The added value of the core industries in the digital economy is expected to account for more than 11 percent of the city's GDP by 2025.