An aerial view of Jianye District, Nanjing City. (CFP)

Nanjing and Suzhou secured the third and sixth spots, respectively, in the 2024 Evaluation Report on Technological Entrepreneurship in Chinese Cities, released by the School of Entrepreneurship and Management at ShanghaiTech University on November 2.

Supported by the National Social Science Fund, the research evaluated 58 major cities across 30 provinces. The top ten cities in this ranking are Beijing, Shenzhen, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Qingdao, and Hefei.

The evaluation was based on five primary indicators: enterprise cultivation, high-quality innovation and entrepreneurship, pro-innovation network, technology level, and environment and platforms.

Nanjing ranked fourth in both enterprise cultivation and high-quality innovation and entrepreneurship, second in technology level, and third in environment and platforms. The city led in the growth rate of high-tech enterprises and entrepreneurship capacity. Compared to 2022, Nanjing rose by 38 places in terms of high-tech enterprise growth rate.

Suzhou ranked third in high-quality innovation and entrepreneurship, seventh in environment and platforms, and eighth in both enterprise cultivation and technology level. Suzhou performed best in international competitiveness, ranking second, largely due to its significant contribution to international patent applications.

In this year’s evaluation report, five cities climbed more than five places. Notably, Yancheng jumped from 43rd to 35th place.