---
title: "China City Classification Guide"
description: "Jones Lang LaSalle released its China 60 Cities report on April 19, 2015, identifying Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Shenyang, Suzhou, Tianjin, Wuhan, and Xi'an as '1.5-tier cities', with Xi'an appearing for the first time. The report classifies Shanghai and Beijing as 'super first-tier' and Guangzhou and Shenzhen as 'first-tier', excluding them from the 60-city list. This is JLL's fourth such report, following previous editions in 2007, 2009, and 2012."
author: "JLL"
publisher: "New Distribution"
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published: "2015-09-20"
language: "en"
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---

# China City Classification Guide

> Jones Lang LaSalle released its China 60 Cities report on April 19, 2015, identifying Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Shenyang, Suzhou, Tianjin, Wuhan, and Xi'an as '1.5-tier cities', with Xi'an appearing for the first time. The report classifies Shanghai and Beijing as 'super first-tier' and Guangzhou and Shenzhen as 'first-tier', excluding them from the 60-city list. This is JLL's fourth such report, following previous editions in 2007, 2009, and 2012.

Jones Lang LaSalle released its China 60 Cities report on April 19, 2015.
The report shows that Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Shenyang, Suzhou, Tianjin, Wuhan, and Xi'an are classified as "1.5-tier cities", with Xi'an appearing on the list for the first time. JLL defines **Shanghai and Beijing** as "super first-tier cities" and Guangzhou and Shenzhen as "first-tier cities"; these four cities are not included in the 60-city list.
This is JLL's fourth release of a China city report. The previous three were the "China Emerging Cities 20" in 2007, the "China Emerging Cities 30" in 2009, and the "China Emerging Cities 50" in 2012. JLL divides the 60 cities into three tiers: 1.5-tier, second-tier, and third-tier, with third-tier further divided into growth, emerging, and start-up categories. The nine "1.5-tier cities"—Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Shenyang, Suzhou, Tianjin, Wuhan, and Xi'an—are designated as "regional central cities" and are the focus of future development. Changsha, Dalian, Jinan, Ningbo, Qingdao, Wuxi, Xiamen, and Zhengzhou enter the "second-tier" category; Changchun, Changzhou, and 12 other cities are classified as growth third-tier; Haikou, Huzhou, and 16 others as emerging third-tier; and Huai'an, Jilin, and 11 others as start-up third-tier.

Jones Lang LaSalle China 60 Cities
Super first-tier: Shanghai, Beijing
First-tier: Guangzhou, Shenzhen
1.5-tier: Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Shenyang, Suzhou, Tianjin, Wuhan, Xi'an (9 cities)
Second-tier: Changsha, Dalian, Jinan, Ningbo, Qingdao, Wuxi, Xiamen, Zhengzhou (8 cities)
Third-tier (growth): Changchun, Changzhou, Harbin, Fuzhou, Kunming, Hefei, Dongguan, Shijiazhuang, Hohhot, Nanchang, Wenzhou, Foshan, Guiyang, Nanning (14 cities)
Third-tier (emerging): Haikou, Huzhou, Tangshan, Jiaxing, Shaoxing, Nantong, Xuzhou, Quanzhou, Taiyuan, Yantai, Urumqi, Weifang, Zhuhai, Luoyang, Zhongshan, Lanzhou, Jinhua (17 cities)
Third-tier (start-up): Huai'an, Jilin, Weihai, Zibo, Yinchuan, Yangzhou, Wuhu, Yancheng, Yichang, Xining, Xiangyang, Mianyang (12 cities)

This ranking, released by JLL in April, covers 60 Chinese cities (excluding Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen) and is calculated based on economic and real estate indices.

The following is an excerpt from the report:

**"China City Classification" by CBN Weekly (400 cities)**
CBN's evaluation criteria differ from most methods. Its indicators include: density of first-tier brand entry, number of first-tier brand entries, GDP, per capita income, 211 universities, number of Fortune Global 500 companies, ranking of major companies' strategic cities, airport throughput, number of consulates, and number of international flight routes—10 indicators in total.

**State Council: Latest City Size Classification Standard**
Last year, the State Council issued the "Notice on Adjusting the City Size Classification Standard", which adjusted the previous standard and clarified the new one. According to the new standard, cities are divided into five categories and seven tiers. Cities with a permanent population of over 10 million in urban areas are classified as megacities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Wuhan. Ten cities, including Chengdu, Nanjing, and Hong Kong, meet the standard for super-large cities.

The new standard uses the **permanent population** of urban areas as the statistical caliber, dividing cities into five categories and seven tiers:

> Cities with an urban permanent population of less than 500,000 are small cities, of which those with 200,000 to 500,000 are Type I small cities, and those below 200,000 are Type II small cities.
>
> Cities with an urban permanent population of 500,000 to 1 million are medium cities.
>
> Cities with an urban permanent population of 1 million to 5 million are large cities, of which those with 3 million to 5 million are Type I large cities, and those with 1 million to 3 million are Type II large cities.
>
> Cities with an urban permanent population of 5 million to 10 million are super-large cities.
>
> Cities with an urban permanent population of over 10 million are megacities.

**Standard for Data-Driven Management**
This is a city classification standard I have compiled from major consumer goods companies such as Procter & Gamble, Unilever, and Johnson & Johnson. It is more suitable for consumer goods companies:

Super-tier cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen (these are the traditional four super-tier cities; however, with Chengdu's rise in the western retail market, some retail companies or brands have replaced Shenzhen with Chengdu)
First-tier cities: Nanjing, Suzhou, Wuxi, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Changsha, Wuhan, Tianjin, Jinan, Qingdao, Dalian, Shenyang, Harbin, Chengdu, Chongqing, Xi'an
Second-tier cities: Zhuhai, Foshan, Quanzhou, Dongguan, Nanning, Haikou, Sanya, Kunming, Mianyang, Guiyang, Lhasa, Shijiazhuang, Taiyuan, Baotou, Hohhot, Yantai, Changchun, Anshan, Nanchang, Zhengzhou, Hefei, Urumqi, Lanzhou, Xining, Yinchuan, Wenzhou
Third-tier cities: Tangshan, Qinhuangdao, Handan, Baoding, Langfang, Datong, Yangquan, Changzhi, Linfen, Fushun, Benxi, Jinzhou, Jilin, Siping, Qiqihar, Daqing, Jiamusi, Mudanjiang, Changshu, Zhenjiang, Lianyungang, Jiangyin, Xuzhou, Yixing, Kunshan, Huzhou, Lishui, Xiaoshan, Ruian, Yiwu, Wuhu, Bengbu, Ma'anshan, Anqing, Putian, Zhangzhou, Shishi, Jingdezhen, Jiujiang, Yingtan, Dongying, Weifang, Tai'an, Weihai, Binzhou, Kaifeng, Luoyang, Pingdingshan, Shiyan, Yichang, Xiangfan, Zhuzhou, Xiangtan, Hengyang, Shaoyang, Shaoguan, Shantou, Jiangmen, Maoming, Zhongshan, Zhanjiang, Chaozhou, Liuzhou, Guilin, Beihai, Zigong, Panzhihua, Leshan, Yibin, Nanchong, Qujing, Yuxi, Baoshan, Dali, Zunyi, Tongchuan, Baoji, Xianyang, Hanzhong
Fourth-tier cities: all cities not listed above
Township markets: townships in rural areas; there are 40,446 township-level markets nationwide

Jones Lang LaSalle, along with Savills, Colliers International, CBRE, and Cushman & Wakefield, is one of the world's five major real estate consultancies and is the only real estate investment management and services company to have been selected for the Forbes Platinum 400 list for three consecutive years.

Currently, JLL operates in 75 countries with over 200 offices, generating approximately $4 billion in revenue in 2013. In Greater China, JLL has over 1,900 professionals and 12,000 on-site employees, providing professional real estate services in more than 80 cities across the country.


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