Taipei, June 28 (CNA) Taipei is the second-most competitive city in the Greater China region, placed behind Hong Kong but ahead of Beijing and Shanghai in a global ranking index published by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing Thursday.

Taipei was ranked 32nd, up from last year's 38th, among 500 cities around the world in the annual Global Urban Competitiveness report penned by a team led by the academy's Ni Pengfei and professor Peter Kresl of Bucknell University in the United States.

The report also showed Shanghai moved up one place to 36th, while Beijing climbed from 59th to 55th spot. Shenzhen and Macau were two other cities under Chinese control that made this year's list of the top 100 cities.

The top four places continued to be occupied respectively by New York, London, Tokyo and Paris, but these cities are losing their edge, with the gap between other cities narrowing because of the 2008 financial tsunami and the ongoing European debt crisis, Ni noted.

Ni said cities in the emerging economies benefit from the booming demand in their markets, while Western cities still have the advantage of being freer economies.

A city's competitiveness, Ni said, is decided by its ability to secure a high number of resources in the shortest period of time to create wealth and provide welfare for its residents.

Other Taiwanese cities to make it into the top 200 cities were Kaohsiung (117th), Taichung (154th), Tainan (192nd), and Hsichu (197th), according to the report.

(By Kay Liu)
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