An evening view of Guangzhou. [Photo Nanfang Daily]

Guangzhou topped China's City Business Environment list in 2018, with Shenzhen, Shanghai, Beijing and Nanjing ranking from second to fifth respectively, according to the latest report released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) on December 23rd. These 5 cities featured overall scores higher than 90.

34 key cities across China were selected and evaluated across five aspects: government affairs, market operations, social environment, rule of law, and opening-up.Other cities including Hangzhou, Jinan, Ningbo, Wuhan and Chengdu occupy the sixth to tenth spots.

The report is based on surveys and public statistics, then analyzes the current situation, noting any improvements and/or existing problems in the business environment of these key cities and makes corresponding proposals.

The survey was conducted through questionnaire, data analysis, interview and a forum covering a total of 10,311 enterprises.

Business environment is vital to the development of a country or region. It is also an important index to reflect how a country or region competes internationally or regionally.

Guangzhou was China's most popular investment city in 2018, according to a report released by AmCham China. At present, there are 34,000 foreign-invested enterprises in Guangzhou, more than 300 of which are Fortune 500 companies.

Currently, Guangzhou is making efforts to further reform of the business environment such as reducing time and cost of business registration. In 2018, it took about 3 days for a company to finish the registration. It aims to realize the entire process of starting a business within a day next year.

Author: Will

Editor: Simon