Shenzhen is ranked third in urban business environment among Chinese cities in 2019, following Beijing and Shanghai, according to a report released by State media China Central Television (CCTV) on Thursday.

As for the remaining top 10, Shenzhen is followed by Guangzhou, Chongqing, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Tianjin and Ningbo.

The CCTV report took the international and World Bank standards as benchmarks and evaluated the business environment of Chinese cities through a wide range of indicators for the difficulty of starting and running a business.

It surveyed four municipalities directly under the Central Government, 27 capital cities in provinces and autonomous regions and five specially designated cities in the State plan.

The latest version of the report also evaluated the business environment of 100 Chinese cities with the most active economic activity.

The top 10 cities are Suzhou, Nantong, Yantai, Wuxi, Dongguan, Shaoxing, Wenzhou, Weifang, Jinhua as well as Zhuhai.

According to the theoretical framework of “element + environment,” the report uses an evaluation system composed of five dimensions, including infrastructure, human resources, financial services, government administration and inclusive innovation.

The report also released five sub-rankings that cover the key links affecting the running of a business, such as system, market, resources, technology, talented staff and capital.

Both the 2018 and 2019 versions of the report show that China has made some of the biggest strides among the world’s economies in improving its business environment over the past two years.