The first place is Beijing, the second is Shanghai, and the third is Guangzhou.

1. Beijing

Beijing, referred to as "Beijing", is the capital of the People's Republic of China, a municipality directly under the Central Government, a national central city, a megacity, an international metropolis, and the national political center. Cultural center, international exchange center, scientific and technological innovation center and comprehensive transportation hub.

Beijing is located in the northern part of the North China Plain, backed by Yanshan Mountain, and adjacent to Tianjin City and Hebei Province. Beijing's climate is a typical north temperate zone semi-humid continental monsoon climate.

Beijing is one of the first batch of national historical and cultural cities and the city with the largest number of world cultural heritages in the world. Its more than 3,000 years of history have given birth to many places of interest such as the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, the Badaling Great Wall, and the Summer Palace. As early as 700,000 years ago, the primitive tribe "Peking Man" appeared in the Zhoukoudian area of ??Beijing. In 1045 BC, Beijing became the capital of Ji, Yan and other vassal states.

Since 938 AD, Beijing has successively become the capital of the Liao Dynasty, the central capital of the Jin Dynasty, the capital of the Yuan Dynasty, and the capital of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Beijing became one of the "Four Gatherings in the World". During the Republic of China, it was the capital of the Beiyang Government and became the capital of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949.

Beijing ranks first in China’s “National Central City Index” and is ranked fourth among the world’s first-tier cities by GaWC. The United Nations report pointed out that Beijing’s human development index ranks second among Chinese cities.

In 2017, Beijing’s per capita disposable income reached 57,230 yuan, and both total household deposits and per capita household deposits ranked first in the country. In 2017, the number of high-tech enterprises in Beijing reached 20,183, ranking first in the country.

On July 31, 2015, Beijing joined hands with Zhangjiakou to win the right to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, becoming the first city in the world to host both the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics.

2. Shanghai

Abbreviated as "Shanghai" or "Shen", it is the birthplace of the Communist Party of China, a municipality directly under the Central Government of the People's Republic of China, a national central city, A megacity, an international economic, financial, trade, shipping, scientific and technological innovation center and comprehensive transportation hub, one of the first batch of coastal open cities.

Shanghai is located at the estuary of the Yangtze River. It is the leading city in the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the core city of the G60 Science and Technology Innovation Corridor. It faces Japan's Kyushu Island across the East China Sea, borders Hangzhou Bay to the south, and borders Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces to the north and west.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Shanghai was the fiefdom of Huang Xie, Lord Chun Shen of Chu State, so it was also called "Shen". During the Jin Dynasty, because fishermen created the fishing tool "Hu", the place where the river flows into the sea was called "Du". Therefore, the area downstream of Songjiang River was called "Hudu". Later, "Hu" was changed to "Hu", so Shanghai was shortened to "Hu". Shanghai".

Huating County was established in the Tang Dynasty, Shanghai Town was established in the late Song Dynasty, and Shanghai County was established in the Yuan Dynasty. Shanghai is a national historical and cultural city. The Wuyue culture of Jiangsu and Zhejiang is integrated with the industrial culture introduced from the West to form Shanghai’s unique Shanghai-style culture. After 1843, Shanghai became a commercial port open to the outside world and rapidly developed into the most prosperous port and economic and financial center in the Far East, known as the "Ten Miles Foreign Market".

Shanghai has a total area of ??6,340 square kilometers and governs 16 municipal districts. It has a subtropical monsoon climate. Shanghai's GDP ranks first among Chinese cities and second among Asian cities. Shanghai is a world-famous financial center and one of the metropolitan areas with the largest population and area in the world. It is ranked sixth among the world's first-tier cities by GaWC.

Shanghai’s “National Central City Index” ranks second in China, and its total household deposits and per capita household deposits both rank second in the country. In 2017, the total number of high-tech enterprises in Shanghai reached 7,642, ranking first in Forbes' "Best Business Cities in Mainland China" list.

Shanghai Port ranks first in the world in container throughput and houses the China (Shanghai) Free Trade Pilot Zone, the first free trade zone in mainland China. The Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration where Shanghai is located is one of the six urban agglomerations in the world.

3. Guangzhou

Sui, also known as Yangcheng and Huacheng, is the capital of Guangdong Province, a sub-provincial city, a national central city, a megacity, an international metropolis, and an international business center. It is an international comprehensive transportation hub, a national comprehensive gateway city, one of the first coastal open cities, and the headquarters of the Southern Theater Command.

Guangzhou is located in the south-central part of Guangdong Province, on the northern edge of the Pearl River Delta, on the edge of the South China Sea, close to Hong Kong and Macau. It is China’s southern gate to the world, and is the centerpiece of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Pan-Pearl River Delta Economic Zone. Core cities and hub cities along the Belt and Road Initiative.

Guangzhou is a national historical and cultural city. Since the Qin Dynasty, Guangzhou has been the administrative center of county, state and prefectural governments. It has always been the political, military, economic, cultural and scientific and educational center of South China. It is also the center of Lingnan. The birthplace and prosperity of culture.

Guangzhou has become the main port of the Maritime Silk Road since the 1930s. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, it became China's largest port and a world-famous Oriental port city. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was China's only major foreign trade port. , is the only major port in the world that has remained prosperous for more than 2,000 years.

Guangzhou has a total area of ??7,434 square kilometers and governs 11 municipal districts. It has a maritime subtropical monsoon climate. Guangzhou is the largest city in South China?[7]?. Guangzhou is rated as a first-tier city in the world by the global authoritative organization GaWC.

The "China Import and Export Fair" held in Guangzhou every year attracts a large number of merchants and a large number of investments from foreign-funded enterprises and the world's top 500 companies.

Guangzhou has more than 8,700 national high-tech enterprises, ranking among the top three in the country. Guangzhou has gathered 80% of the province's universities and 70% of its scientific and technological personnel, and the total number of college students ranks first in the country.

Guangzhou’s per capita household deposits rank among the top three in the country, and its per capita disposable income ranks first in the province. Guangzhou's human development index ranks first in China, and its national central city index ranks third in China. Forbes' 2017 "Ranking of the Best Business Cities in Mainland China" ranked second; it ranked third in the list of China's Top 100 Cities.

Extended information:

First-tier cities refer to metropolitan areas that play an important role in national political, economic and other social activities and have a leading role and radiating and driving capabilities.

It is mainly reflected in the urban development level, comprehensive economic strength, radiation and driving ability, talent attraction, information exchange ability, international competitiveness, scientific and technological innovation ability, transportation accessibility and other aspects. First-tier cities are in It plays a leading role in leading and radiating national social activities such as production, services, finance, innovation, circulation, and comprehensive business index.

The first-tier cities in mainland China generally refer to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

Reference materials

Baidu Encyclopedia-First-tier cities