Shanghai, Beijing, Jiangsu China's top-3 economically competitive regions

Shanghai, Beijing, and Jiangsu province were ranked the top-3 among 31 provincial-level administrative regions in terms of overall economic competitiveness in 2008, according to the "Provincial Economic Blue Book: Report of China's Overall Economic Competitiveness of Provincial-level Administrative Regions," released by the Social Sciences Academic Press (SSAP) February 28.

As the blue book shows, 9 provinces and cities saw a rise in rankings compared to 2007, among which, Jilin province rose at the fastest rate, moving up 4 places.

Experts believe that the study of provincial economic competitiveness has established a valuable theoretical foundation for China's provinces and cities to draw up regional development strategies and policies. The blue book also pointed out the economic development strengths and weaknesses of different provinces and cities through comparative studies so that they may maximize strengths, minimize weaknesses, exploit comparative advantages, and thus enhance their competitiveness.

By People's Daily Online