Beijing was the leader in financial competitiveness in Chinese cities last year, followed by Shanghai and Shenzhen, according to a ranking published by Securities Times and Chinese business magazine New Fortune.

The top 50 out of 209 cities in terms of financial competitiveness in the Chinese mainland were selected based on 35 indicators. The 50 cities, which accounted for more than half of China's GDP, had a realized value-added of 6.3 trillion yuan ($962.64 billion) in the financial sector last year, accounting for 69 percent of the total.

In 2021, Beijing registered value-added of 760.37 billion yuan in the financial sector, accounting for 18.88 percent of the city's GDP. By the end of 2021, Beijing had about 680 listed companies, with total market value of 26.5 trillion yuan, 1.75 times and 2.12 times of that of Shenzhen and Shanghai respectively. Meanwhile, the Beijing Stock Exchange, which was launched on Nov 15, also further strengthens Beijing's leading position in the financial sector, Securities Times said.

Shanghai is the city with the most headquarters of financial institutions such as brokers, funds and futures companies in China, with a more balanced development of financial institutions. Take funds companies as an example, there are 67 funds companies headquartered in the city, with both registered capital and net value of funds assets surpassing the total of Beijing and Shenzhen.

Hangzhou and Guangzhou ranked fourth and fifth respectively.

Thanks to improvement in economy, finance, R&D and the capital market, Suzhou overtook Nanjing, going up one place to sixth in the ranking. In 2020, Suzhou's GDP topped 2 trillion yuan for the first time. In 2021, the city still maintained strong momentum, with a 8.7 percent GDP growth.

Ningbo was the newcomer to the top 10 cities. Similar to Suzhou, Ningbo's strength in financial competitiveness mainly comes from its vitality in the capital market. By the end of 2021, the city had 107 companies listed on the A-share market, ranking seventh in China, with total market value of nearly 1.5 trillion yuan.

Furthermore, Ningbo plays an important role in the private equity sector. Data from the Asset Management Association of China showed, as of November 2021, there were 804 PE companies registered in the city, managing 4,829 PE products worth more than 826.7 billion yuan.

Among the top 50 ranked cities in financial competitiveness, 35 come from eastern China, accounting for 70 percent of the total, the newspaper added.