For many foreign investors, China is still at the exotic end of their investment spectrum. However, China is opening up to new foreign capital across all sectors. To date, the focus has been on Beijing and Shanghai, but that is starting to move on to other cities within China.

It is common to view China divided into first-, second-, and third-tier cities. First-tier cities are Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Second-tier cities are Chengdu, Chongqing, Wuhan, Qingdao, Nanjing, Shenyang, Dalian, Tianjin and Hangzhou (see “China’s Second-Tier Cities” below right). The third tier is the rest – and there are more than 200 cities in China with populations in excess of 1 million, so there are plenty from whom to choose.

Although there is no specific definition for a second city, they each have:

•      GDP equal to or greater