Chengdu topped the ranking of the new first-tier cities in China according to the Ranking of Cities' Business Attractiveness in China 2023 released by the Rising Lab on Tuesday.

Using urban big data from 17 internet companies and data agencies, the research branch of Shanghai media group Yicai, evaluated 337 cities at the prefecture level and above based on five first-level dimensions: concentration of commercial resources, city hub, activity of city residents, diversity of lifestyle and future plasticity.

The 15 new first-tier cities in the 2023 list are Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Suzhou, Xi'an, Nanjing, Changsha, Tianjin, Zhengzhou, Dongguan, Qingdao, Kunming, Ningbo and Hefei.

Compared with the previous year, Kunming returned to the new first-tier, replacing Foshan which had previously been climbing. Former new first-tier cities Shenyang and Wuxi dropped to the second-tier.