In December 2016, Beijing topped the Schroders Global Cities 30 index, ahead of Shanghai, which ranked No 1 this past August 2016 in the first publication of the index. 
In fact, China’s mega-cities captured four of the top five spots in the latest index. Beijing advanced from fourth place to first, while Shanghai — the country’s most populous city with 22 million residents — dropped from first place to second. Shenzhen, which links Hong Kong to mainland China, moved from sixth place to third, and Tianjin, China’s third largest city, dropped from third place to fourth.

“Chinese cities continue to grow at a rapid rate as the country industrialises,” said Hugo Machin, co-head of global real estate securities at Schroders, in a statement. GDP and retail sales in China are growing quickly. According to Schroders, low disposable income is the only factor of five holding these Chinese cities back. But the rate of growth for these