As of 2024, approximately 67% of China’s population resides in urban areas so it is crucial to understand the cities and the difference between them when making business decisions, as consumers from Tier 1 cities can be hugely different than Tier 5 cities. 

 

 

China’s urban landscape is organized in a unique hierarchical system that encompasses 337 cities across 6 distinct tiers, according to the 2024 report from Yicai Global, a financial magazine. This comprehensive classification includes 4 first-tier cities, 15 new first-tier cities, 30 second-tier cities, 70 third-tier cities, 90 fourth-tier cities, and 128 fifth-tier cities. Each tier reflects different levels of economic strength, population size, and developmental potential. Unlike many Western countries, this systematic classification provides a clear framework for understanding China’s urban development:

 

 

 

 

First-Tier Cities: The “Big Four”

 

 

Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. These megacities are China’s most influential urban centers, characterized by massive populations of over 15 million, GDP exceeding $400 billion each, and extensive international connections.

 

 

• Beijing, with its $618 billion GDP exceeding the output of Sweden and 22 million comparable to Sri Lanka, stands as China’s political and cultural center.
• Shanghai, China’s financial powerhouse, contributed a GDP of $660 billion – more than the entire economy of Belgium ($645 billion). It is also the center of the Yangtze Delta Region, one of China’s most economically dynamic and influential regions. 
• Guangzhou and Shenzhen form a megalopolis together with Hongkong, Macau and the nearby cities called the Greater Bay Area, which outperforms the entire San Francisco Bay Area in terms of GDP. It manufactures more electronics than all of Western Europe combined. Shenzhen, once a fishing village, now files more international patents each year than the entire United Kingdom.

 

 

New First-Tier Cities: Fifteen Rising Stars 

 

 

The next tier includes Chongqing, Hangzhou, Wuhan, and Suzhou. These cities demonstrate strong economic growth, and technological innovation, and serve as regional hubs, often with populations over 10 million.

 

 

• Chongqing covers an area of 82,403 square kilometers – close to the entire country of Austria (83,878 km2), and more than 50 times the size of London (1,572 km2). 
• Hangzhou, home to Alibaba and Deepseek, has an economy ($281 billion) that can compete with Portugal’s entire GDP($289 billion). Its high mobile payment adoption rate makes it one of the world’s most cashless societies.
• Wuhan, at the heart of central China, spans three ancient districts across the Yangtze River. It hosts 13.8 million people – close to the entire population of Rwanda (14.0 million).
• Suzhou has a GDP of $345 billion which matches Pakistan’s economy. Yet due to its close proximity to Shanghai, it doesn’t even have its own airport, but its water towns and classic gardens are a must-visit due to its rich culture and history. 

 

 

Second-Tier Cities: Mainly Provincial capitals

 

 

Some of them are economically significant cities like Xiamen, Dalian, and Changsha as well as quite a few provincial capitals like Shenyang, Kunming, Jinan, and Fuzhou, Most of these cities have a population between 2-8 million and GDPs ranging from $50-150 billion.

 

 

• Xiamen – while perhaps less internationally known, its GDP of $114 billion matches Sudan’s ($109 billion) economic output and is a famous tourism city in China. 
• Harbin – The Heavy Industry Hub, with a GDP of $79 billion, similar to Tanzania ($79 billion), is China’s largest aircraft and power equipment manufacturing base. Famous for its winter tourism, attracting over 25 million visitors annually, it just hosted the 9th Asian Winter Games.
• Foshan – The Manufacturing Powerhouse right beside Guangzhou. Even though it is not a provincial capital, it still has a GDP of $188 billion, comparable to Ukraine’s economy ($ 178 billion), it is the world’s largest home appliance and ceramic manufacturing base.

 

 

Lower-Tier Cities

 

 

These 288 cities within the third, fourth, and fifth-tier cities represent the backbone of China’s specialized manufacturing and industrial bases. Though individually smaller than their higher-tier counterparts, when compared with international cities by scale, they are still huge with millions of population, sometimes even larger than a country. And many of them have become global leaders in specific industries. For example:

 

 

• Yiwu, with less than 2 million population, is known as the “World’s Small Commodity Capital”, and dominates the global Christmas commodity market, holding a 70% share as a permanent wholesale market, it is larger than any trade fair in the world, even larger than Canton Fair. 
• Dongguan, another city within the Greater Bay Area, serves as the world’s largest electronics manufacturing hub producing 30% of the world’s mobile phones and 40% of global computer peripheral products.
• Putian, a city within Fujian province, produces over 80% of the world’s sports shoes and sneakers, with over 4,000 shoe manufacturers producing for major global brands.

 

 

Top 100 Counties

 

 

A unique feature of China’s urban landscape is county-level cities that often outperform larger urban areas in specific industries, forming specialized industrial clusters, especially in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta.

 

 

• Kunshan, a county-level city as a part of Suzhou, might seem modest with its 2 million population, but it produces 1/3 of the world’s laptop computers. Its GDP per capita of $33,000 rivals that of Spain.
• Yongkang, the “Hardware Capital of China,” is a major manufacturing hub, dominating national production and exports in specific hardware sectors like vacuum flasks, doors, and electric tools.

 

 

Closing

 

 

Now even though there is no official ranking of cities in China, the Yicai global tier system helps us to better understand the size and strength of the cities. If compared to International cities, they are typically larger. From global megacities to specialized manufacturing hubs, each tier in China’s urban system plays a crucial role in both the national and global economy. 

 

 

If you have any questions about the cities in China or would like to visit China feel free to comment below or contact us. 

 

 

Chinese Cities Classification 2024

 

 

Tier	Counts	Cities
First-Tier	4	Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou
New First-Tier	15	Chengdu, Hangzhou, Chongqing, Suzhou, Wuhan, Xi’an, Nanjing, Changsha, Tianjin, Zhengzhou, Dongguan, Wuxi, Ningbo, Qingdao, Hefei
Second-Tier	30	Foshan, Shenyang, Kunming, Jinan, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Wenzhou, Changzhou, Dalian, Shijiazhuang, Nanning, Harbin, Jinhua, Nanchang, Changchun, Nantong, Quanzhou, Guiyang, Jiaxing, Taiyuan, Huizhou, Xuzhou, Shaoxing, Zhongshan, Taizhou, Yantai, Zhuhai, Baoding, Weifang, Lanzhou
Third-Tier	70	Urumqi, Hohhot, Haikou, Zhuzhou, Yangzhou, etc.
Fourth-Tier	90	Zhoushan, Qinhuangdao, Jilin, Kaifeng, Zhuhai, etc.
Fifth-Tier	128	Jining, Yancheng, Yan’an, Hengyang, Jingzhou, etc.

 

 

Source: Yicai Global

 

 

Economic Scale Comparison (2023)

 

 

Chinese City	GDP (Billion USD)	Comparable Country	Country GDP
Shanghai	660	Argentina	646
Beijing	618	Sweden	585
Shenzhen	482	Norway	485
Guangzhou	422	Viet Nam	429
Chongqing	421	Denmark	407
Suzhou	345	Pakistan	338
Chengdu	309	Finland	295
Hangzhou	281	Peru	268
Wuhan	280	New Zealand	252
Nanjing	244	Greece	243

 

 

Source: Worldbank

 

 

Population Scale Comparison

 

 

Chinese City	Population (M)	Comparable Country	Population (M)
Chongqing	32.0	Saudi Arabia	33.2
Shanghai	24.9	Australia	26.7
Beijing	21.9	Sri Lanka	22.0
Chengdu	21.4	Zambia	20.7
Guangzhou	18.8	Romania	19.1
Shenzhen	17.8	Netherlands	17.9
Wuhan	13.8	Rwanda	14.0
Xi’an	13.1	Burundi	13.7
Suzhou	13.0	Burundi	13.7
Hangzhou	12.5	Bolivia	12.2

 

 

Source: Worldbank