Economic Observer Online
Apr.6, 2012
Translated by Ma Zheng
Original Article: [Chinese]

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner, last Saturday ranked Shanghai municipality as the country’s most “open” region in an assessment that took into account factors such as the number of KFCs and McDonalds.

The survey measured the openness of China’s 31 administrative areas in terms of economic, technological and social development, chief research officer Liu Jianxing told the EO.  

Beijing and the southern coastal province of Guangdong came in second and third places, while the southwestern province of Guizhou Province was the country’s most “closed off” region, finishing just below Qinghai Province and the Tibet Autonomous Region in the west.

It is the first time that the NDRC has assessed “openness” in this way, and the report reflects the growing disparities in regional development. The most open city, Shanghai got 84.7 points while the least open province, Guizhou only scored 3.4 points.

The report divided the top ten areas into three categories, “Golden Administrative Areas”, “Silver Administrative Areas” and “Future Stars”. Among the “Golden Administrative Areas”, Beijing ranked higher than Shanghai and Guangdong in terms of technological development, but was far behind Shanghai in economic development.

Links and Sources
International Cooperation Center: 国际合作中心发布“中国区域对外开放指数