As digital transformation enters deeper waters, a new competitive landscape centered around data elements, intelligent computing power, and scenario innovation is taking shape among cities.
According to the "2025 China Digital City Competitiveness Research Report" released by CCID Consulting on September 25, the 2025 Digital Top 100 Cities ranking experienced dramatic changes, with 48 cities rising in position, 18 maintaining their status, and 38 declining. Four cities newly entered the top 100, including Dongying and Zaozhuang, bringing all 16 Shandong cities into the 2025 Digital Top 100 Cities list.
CCID Consulting's "China Digital City Competitiveness Research Report" has been published consecutively for seven years. The report systematically evaluates over 200 cities nationwide based on six major dimensions and 54 indicators, comprehensively reflecting cities' comprehensive capabilities in digital infrastructure, economic vitality, innovation capacity, governance efficiency, green transformation, and cultural soft power. The 2025 report highlights new trends including real-digital integration, data value creation, and low-carbon development.
From the perspective of provincial administrative regions, Shandong, Jiangsu, and Guangdong continue to lead significantly in digital city competitiveness. In the dynamic changes of urban competition patterns, the overall competitiveness of the 2025 Digital Top 100 Cities has steadily improved, with 48 cities rising in rankings and entering the "efficiency-driven" stage, achieving a crucial leap from digitalization to digital intelligence. Four cities earned spots in the top 100 due to outstanding performance in digital infrastructure and digital governance, including two Shandong cities: Dongying and Zaozhuang.
The entry of these two cities into the top 100 enables all 16 Shandong cities to join the Digital Top 100 Cities. The rankings of Shandong's 16 cities in the top 100 are: Qingdao (12), Jinan (14), Yantai (43), Weifang (49), Linyi (51), Zibo (56), Jining (60), Weihai (64), Dezhou (72), Heze (77), Liaocheng (86), Binzhou (88), Tai'an (91), Rizhao (94), Dongying (98), and Zaozhuang (99).
Notably, the top five cities in digital city competitiveness rankings align with the 2024 economic output rankings of Shandong's 16 cities. However, among the other 11 Shandong cities with economic volumes between 200-500 billion yuan, their digital city competitiveness rankings show differentiation.
Weihai, ranked 11th provincially in economic volume (2024 GDP of 372.862 billion yuan), ranks 8th provincially in digital city competitiveness. Dongying, ranked 9th provincially in economic volume (2024 GDP of 430.77 billion yuan), ranks 15th provincially in digital city competitiveness. This gap reflects different industrial structures between the two cities.
Weihai has consistently ranked first in Shandong for high-tech industry output value proportion for many years, giving it an advantage in digital transformation. Urban tier differentiation also reflects the formation of new competitive patterns.
In the fierce competition of digital transformation among major national cities, the original GDP rankings have been completely reshuffled. Shandong's dual cores - Qingdao ranks 12th and Jinan ranks 14th - far ahead of Ningbo, Changsha (16), Xi'an (17), Zhengzhou (18), and Hefei (19).
Wang Haoyue, an analyst at CCID Consulting's Digital Transformation Research Center, points out that among the 2025 Digital Top 100 Cities, the number of cities in the efficiency-driven stage increased from 40 in 2024 to 48. These cities are no longer satisfied with infrastructure coverage but focus on data empowerment, scenario innovation, and value creation. These new capabilities are rewriting the competitive rules of digital cities.
Meanwhile, cities within the same development stage show further differentiation, presenting three-tier differences: "excellent performers," "progressive performers," and "growth performers." Excellent performer cities have already demonstrated advanced models such as forward-looking governance decisions and seamless service delivery.
This ranking, published consecutively for seven years, shows that urban digital transformation has shifted from scale expansion to systematic deepening strategic transformation. A new competitive landscape centered on data elements, intelligent computing power, and scenario innovation is forming.
Although Shandong has long led in this CCID Consulting ranking, inter-city digital competitiveness remains a continuous race with intensifying competition. On September 11, the "State Council's Reply on the Implementation Plan for Comprehensive Reform Pilot of Factor Market-oriented Allocation in Some Regions Nationwide" was released, designating 10 regions including Beijing's municipal sub-center, key cities in southern Jiangsu, Hangzhou-Ningbo-Wenzhou, Hefei metropolitan area, Fuzhou-Xiamen-Quanzhou, Zhengzhou, Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan, nine inland cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Chongqing, and Chengdu for comprehensive reform pilots of factor market-oriented allocation. Data marketization is part of this reform and will inevitably reshape the digital competitiveness landscape among cities.
In the continuous wave of digital transformation, Shandong, which is not included in this comprehensive reform pilot, needs to continue strengthening efforts in data empowerment, scenario innovation, and value creation to win the new race.