On February 8, the International Exchange Centers Index 2022, the first of its kind in the world, was jointly released by the China Institute for Development Planning of Tsinghua University and Deloitte China. According to the report, Beijing ranked 7th, the only Chinese mainland city to make the top 10.
The report attached more importance to the following aspects of a city: its involvement and potential in gathering international factors, political and economic interactions, and people-to-people exchanges; its influence on the world, international relations, and global civilization; and its ability to allocate global resources, as well as the institutions, platforms, and rules that support such ability. International exchange centers are cities that link and serve the world, are capable of gathering international high-end factors, and play a key role in global affairs. They are crucial nodes and hubs in the network of international exchanges, said the report.
It evaluated 37 major cities across the globe, describing and comparing differences in their development based on a framework including 11 second-level indicators and 25 third-level indicators under three dimensions - attractiveness, influence, and connectivity. As a result, London, New York, Paris, Singapore, Seoul, Hong Kong, Beijing, Tokyo, San Francisco, and Copenhagen were the top 10 cities by ranking on the index.
As the report shows, Beijing ranked third in influence, the best among all the dimensions. In terms of second-level indicators, it came in second in sci-tech innovation, benefiting from its high-quality sci-tech innovation resources. Over the past five years, the city was second only to Boston in the number of cited sci-tech papers and had the fifth-highest number of PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) applications among the 37 participants. In addition, its third place in culture and education was due to its rich historical and cultural resources and excellent higher education resources. Beijing, the only "dual Olympic city", is a thousand-year-old capital with the most cultural heritage in the world. Ranking fifth in economic development, it has demonstrated strong economic competitiveness. Home to China's top economic policy, fiscal and financial resources, the capital carries so much weight in global economic growth and resource allocation that it has surpassed other cities for the most Fortune 500 headquarters.
The report also pointed out that there was still room for Beijing to improve its attractiveness and connectivity. To strengthen its role as an international exchange center, efforts should be intensified in such areas as software and hardware services, international business environment, international communication and connectivity, international image building and promotion, and international events and exhibitions with Beijing characteristics.
Beijing, based on its strategic position as the capital, has focused on serving the country's total diplomacy and the capital's high-quality development. Multi-pronged measures have been taken in terms of mechanism, planning, platform, factors, and environment to strengthen its role as an international exchange center as well as the core carrier of major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics. Going forward, with a higher level of internationalization resulting from the ever-improving international exchange function, Beijing will take the lead in achieving socialist modernization by and large and better serve Chinese modernization, said the head of the Beijing Foreign Affairs Office.
(Written by: Fan Junsheng)
