Top 10 attractive Chinese cities for talent revealed

The 10 most attractive Chinese cities for talent in 2021 were revealed by China Economic Weekly on May 10, with Beijing topping the list. The list was based on data from Zhaopin.com, the country's leading human resources service provider, and Chinese economist Ren Zeping.

Photo taken on Sept. 17, 2020 shows a view of downtown Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Wang Jianhua)

Shanghai grabbed second spot, followed by Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province. Thanks to a robust economy and strategic significance, east China continued to remain a magnet for talent, with seven cities on the list. Two cities on the top 10 list came from central China, including Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province and Changsha, capital of Hunan Province. And Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, is the only city from west China that made the list.

The capital city Beijing saw a record high of inflow of talent in 2021, mainly because the city rolled out some favorable policies in that year, and has the highest income level. Beijing, with an average monthly income of 21,554 yuan ($3,107) and annual income of 258,648 yuan, ranked first in a list of top 30 cities in terms of average income released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Boasting rapid economic development and high-level innovation-driven development, China's southern metropolis Shenzhen has attracted droves of talent these years. Its neighbor Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, ranked fourth, because of fast economic growth and a relatively low cost of living among first-tier cities.

Those ranked fifth to 10th are all second-tier cities including Hangzhou, known for a burgeoning e-commerce industry, Chengdu, Suzhou, Nanjing, Wuhan, and Changsha, many of which have introduced relevant policies to attract talent.