China shines on list of innovative cities

China has three of the world's top 20 well-developed international cities in terms of both their capital hubs and innovation centers, according to a ranking published by the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences on Wednesday.

Hong Kong - fourth on the list - follows New York, London and Paris. Shanghai is 11th and Beijing 15th among the 70 largest international cities, the report said.

This is the first time that China has published a comprehensive ranking of the world cities that have enormous international influence, adding innovation capacity as an important measurable indicator besides economic scale.

"Taking the innovation function into account can better unfold the cities' real strength and help improve their comprehensive development," said Tu Qiyu, deputy head of the Institute of Urban and Demographic Studies of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

"The new ranking focused more on citizens' happiness, low carbon density and governance, encouraging cities to use innovation as a driving force for sustainable growth," Tu said.

Among the 70 international cities in the research, 34 cities, or 48.6 percent, come from Europe, and most of them have finished the development pattern transformation from capital-driven to innovation-driven, the report said.

Meanwhile, 14 cities from Asia are on the list, it said.

Shi Hexing, a researcher on public administration, said that the development quality and efficiency, rather than GDP growth pace, will be more important for evaluating the achievement of local governments.

"The problems with rural migrants and aging population should also be taken into account," Shi said.

Vice-Premier Li Keqiang said on Tuesday that China should help migrant workers gradually integrate into cities, rather than solely expand urban areas.

The new government, to take office in March, is expected to make an effort to solve some longstanding issues such as hukou (urban residence permit), income disparity and construction of welfare housing to accelerate the urbanization process, said a report from the North Square Blue Oak Ltd, a London-based investment bank with a strong focus on China.