Shanghai (CNS) – A survey listing the top ten Chinese cities on the basis of citizen satisfaction with government services was released in Shanghai on November 23. Ranked in the top ten cities popular with average people were Xiamen, Qingdao, Hangzhou, Jinan, Ningbo, Suzhou, Hefei, Changchun, Shanghai, Chengdu and Nanjing.
The survey was conducted jointly by the Singapore Lien Foundation, Nanyang Technological University and Shanghai Jiaotong University. It probed three different aspects of city life, including public and corporate views on how service-oriented their city government was, and the quality of basic public services.
Xiamen, a city in Fujian province, stood out for being ranked number one with both the public and the corporate community.
The top ten are mainly located in east China and southwest China, and interestingly, most do not qualify as a sprawling metropolis. The survey also revealed that overheated investments in economic development are perceived to divert government attention away from civic welfare.
A service-oriented government is supposed to be open, corruption-resitant and efficient, as well as democratic enough to bend its ear to citizens and consistently improve public services, stated Nanyang Technological University.
"The survey reveals the will of the citizenry, and helps authorities transform into service-oriented governments," commented Hu Wei, dean of the International and Public Affairs faculty at Shanghai Jiaotong University.
