City competition has entered a new phase, where being "large" is no longer the sole benchmark, and "strong" has become the new pursuit. Recently, the Shanghai Jiao Tong University China Institute for Urban Governance and the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shenzhen Institute jointly released the "China's Large and Strong City Index Report 2026". This report does not solely measure urban strength by GDP scale. Instead, it selects cities with annual GDP exceeding 500 billion yuan and assesses which cities, having met the economic scale threshold, possess stronger development capabilities based on 10 indicators including labor productivity, land productivity, and capital productivity.
By comparing GDP rankings with the Large and Strong City Index rankings, it is evident that a city's economic scale and comprehensive strength are not always synchronized. Some cities with leading economic aggregates rank relatively lower on the Strong City Index. For instance, based on 2025 data, Chongqing ranks 4th in GDP but 27th on the Strong City Index; Chengdu ranks 7th in GDP but 18th on the index; and Tianjin ranks 12th in GDP but 22nd on the index. Conversely, cities like Suzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, and Ningbo have Strong City rankings higher than their GDP rankings, demonstrating superior development quality.
Shifting Competition Logic for Major Cities
GDP has always been a key indicator for observing urban development levels. Cities with larger economic aggregates typically possess more complete industrial systems, stronger market appeal, and higher resource allocation capabilities. As economic development enters a new stage, the dimensions of urban competition are diversifying, but the importance of "large cities" has not diminished. The report selects cities with GDP exceeding 500 billion yuan as its research subjects, based on the premise that these cities already have a solid economic foundation, allowing for further observation of their development efficiency, innovation capacity, factor support, and comprehensive carrying capacity. In other words, the Large and Strong City Index does not replace GDP but offers a new perspective on urban competitiveness beyond economic scale.
The number and economic influence of China's large cities continue to grow. In 2021, the index sample included 54 cities, with 24 having a GDP exceeding one trillion yuan. By 2023, the sample increased to 59 cities, with Yantai and Changzhou joining the trillion-yuan club. In 2025, the sample expanded further to 67 cities, with Tangshan, Wenzhou, and Dalian entering the trillion-yuan ranks. The total GDP of these 67 cities with annual GDP over 500 billion yuan accounts for 61% of the national GDP, up 2.19 percentage points from 2023. These 67 cities contributed 87.37% of the national GDP increment, indicating a concentration effect far exceeding their share of economic stock.
From the rankings, economic scale remains a crucial pillar of comprehensive urban strength. The GDP rankings and Strong City Index rankings show a high degree of consistency overall. Among the top 20 cities by GDP, 16 also rank within the top 20 on the Strong City Index, suggesting that cities with stronger economic foundations generally possess better development capabilities. However, the discrepancies between the two lists also reveal new changes in urban competition. Compared to purely comparing economic aggregates, the Strong City Index places greater emphasis on development efficiency and quality.
Yangtze River Delta Dominates with Efficiency Advantage
Regionally, the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) is the most concentrated area for strong cities. Among the 67 selected cities, 18 are located in the YRD, with their total economic output accounting for 18.98% of the national GDP, the highest among all urban agglomerations. In comparison, the Shandong Peninsula urban agglomeration has 7 cities on the list, the Middle Yangtze River urban agglomeration has 6, and the Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration has 5.
Many YRD cities improved their rankings in this edition. Compared to the previous round, Suzhou rose 4 places to 8th nationally; Ningbo moved from 9th to 7th; Changzhou rose from 17th to 15th; and Shaoxing jumped from 28th to 21st. Notably, almost all YRD cities have Strong City Index rankings higher than their GDP rankings, showcasing their clear advantages in development efficiency, innovation capacity, and comprehensive carrying capacity. For example, Suzhou ranks 6th in GDP but 4th on the Strong City Index; Ningbo ranks 11th in GDP but 7th on the index; and Wuxi ranks 14th in GDP but 9th on the index. This phenomenon is not limited to a few cities. Cities like Zhenjiang and Taizhou also perform strongly in the strong city competition, leveraging their industrial base and development quality. This highlights a key feature of the YRD: a relatively complete urban echelon has formed within the region, allowing cities of different sizes and functions to contribute to regional development.
Why Some Economic Powerhouses Are 'Large but Not Strong'
In the Strong City Index ranking, some cities with leading economic aggregates have rankings significantly lower than their GDP positions. These cities are mostly concentrated in the southwest and north, exhibiting a "large but not strong" characteristic. Taking the GDP top 20 in 2025 as an example: Chongqing (GDP rank 4th, Strong City rank 27th), Chengdu (GDP rank 7th, Strong City rank 18th), Tianjin (GDP rank 12th, Strong City rank 22nd), Zhengzhou (GDP rank 16th, Strong City rank 39th), and Xi'an (GDP rank 20th, Strong City rank 32nd).
Further analysis of the indicators reveals that the gap lies more in development efficiency and quality. For example, Tianjin ranks lower on indicators like capital productivity and number of invention patents per 10,000 people. Chongqing lags in labor productivity, land productivity, capital productivity, per capita disposable income, and talent ratio. Similar issues exist for Chengdu, Zhengzhou, and Xi'an, where indicators reflecting urban development quality and potential still have room for improvement. The index focuses not just on current development scale, but on indicators related to efficiency, quality, and potential. Improvements in these areas are slow variables, making significant progress in a short time unlikely. Therefore, local governments should adopt a long-term perspective, focusing on both annual targets and long-term development goals.
Based on first-half 2024 economic data, some "large but not strong" cities are seeking new growth drivers. Chongqing's first-half GDP reached 1.6702 trillion yuan, maintaining 4th place nationally, with a 4.2% year-on-year growth. As a manufacturing hub in the west, Chongqing sees rapid growth in new energy vehicles and electronic information, but its traditional industries still account for a high proportion, and industrial transformation and innovation capacity improvement require time. Chengdu's first-half GDP was 1.2884 trillion yuan, growing 5.0% year-on-year. It continues to promote industries like electronic information, biomedicine, and aerospace, making emerging industries a key growth support. However, compared to cities like Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou, Chengdu still has room for improvement in gathering high-end innovation resources and enhancing labor productivity. Tianjin, with a first-half GDP of 913.779 billion yuan (up 4.8%), maintained a recovery trend but was overtaken by Qingdao in the GDP ranking, falling to 13th place. Relying on advanced manufacturing and the Binhai New Area, Tianjin is accelerating its layout in industries like information technology innovation, biomedicine, and new energy. However, enhancing industrial added value and strengthening the transformation of technological innovations remain crucial directions for improving its competitiveness.
In contrast, some cities with less prominent GDP scales achieve higher-quality development through industrial upgrading and innovation-driven strategies. For instance, Hefei's first-half GDP reached 707.3 billion yuan, with a 6.8% year-on-year growth rate, ranking among the fastest in the top 20 cities. In recent years, Hefei has continuously laid out emerging industries like new energy vehicles, integrated circuits, and artificial intelligence, forming a synergistic development pattern between industrial and innovation chains. It is clear that GDP scale reflects a city's "volume," while the Strong City Index focuses on development efficiency, innovation capacity, and long-term potential. For economic powerhouses like Chongqing, Chengdu, and Tianjin, the key to future competition lies not only in continuing to expand their economic aggregate but also in improving resource allocation efficiency and pushing industries towards higher value-added segments of the value chain.