Statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show China's urbanization rate has increased from 28 percent in 1993 to 40.5 percent in 2003. There are altogether 660 organic cities in China, of which 4 are municipal cities directly under the State Council, 15 are sub-provincial level cities (cities with separate planning), 267 are prefecture-level cities and 374 are county-level cities.

This news came from the press conference of China's Top 100 Cities in Comprehensive Strength held Saturday. The information release is the first sophisticated assessment in China of the comprehensive strengths of Chinese cities above prefecture level. The statistics released by the NBS reflect the development level of a city in a comprehensive way and provide cities with data support in their objective self-assessment and scientific decision making.

The top ten cities in this comprehensive strength assessment are: Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Nanjing, Dalian, Hangzhou, Shenyang and Harbin.

By People's Daily Online