As we all know, the world’s developed countries are mainly concentrated in Europe and the United States, and there are only 4 in Asia, namely Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Israel. For example, the per capita GDP of these four countries in 2020 is 40,146 US dollars, 31497 US dollars, 58902 US dollars, 43689 US dollars, which is indeed much higher than China’s 10,000 US dollars.
However, in addition to GDP per capita, total GDP is also a reflection of a country’s strength. As the world’s second largest economy, China’s position is particularly important. In fact, in terms of total GDP, Asia will not be bad, and among the top ten are China, Japan, India, and South Korea. Indonesia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia were also shortlisted in the top 20.
For countries with relatively large economies, there must be more developed cities to support them. When it comes to Asia’s bustling cities, many people may think of Tokyo, Shanghai, Seoul, Singapore, Dubai, etc., so if you do a ranking, how many tier cities are they? Recently, a Japanese research institute released the 2021 Asian Top 100 Cities list, dividing Asian cities into first-tier, second-tier and third-tier cities. Let’s take a look at what are the first-tier cities in the list?
Judging by the list,
There are 25 first-tier cities in Asia, of which Tokyo, Japan ranks first, followed by Singapore, and the third to fifth places are all from China, respectively, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Beijing.
In terms of volume, Japan had 3 finalists, namely Tokyo, Osaka, Yokohama; There are also 3 in Korea, namely Seoul, Busan, and Incheon. India did not have a single shortlist, but China had 12, accounting for nearly half of the number. China is Shanghai, Hong Kong, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Wuhan, Hangzhou, Chongqing, Nanjing, Taipei and Tianjin. Therefore, it is not yet understood what the ranking basis of this list is.
There are three metropolitan areas in Japan, Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya, and most of Japan’s population lives in these three places. Tokyo is the capital of Japan and one of the most developed cities in the world, with the second largest GDP in the world, reaching $989.3 billion in 2019, second only to New York in the United States, while Shanghai, China’s largest GDP, is $546.9 billion. With a total population of 37 million, the Tokyo metropolitan area is the largest city in the world. Yokohama, Japan’s largest seaport, is the third largest industrial city after Tokyo and Osaka, and belongs to the Tokyo metropolitan area.
Seoul, Busan, and Incheon are the three largest cities in South Korea, and Seoul ranks sixth, making it the largest city in South Korea and an important financial city in Asia. Data show that Seoul’s GDP in 2018 was 395.85 billion US dollars, equivalent to 2,619.4 billion yuan. Compared with the Chinese cities of that year, it ranked after Shanghai and Beijing. Busan is the largest port in South Korea and one of the busiest in the world. Incheon is the second largest port and third largest city in South Korea.
It is strange that India, which ranks sixth in the world in terms of total GDP, does not have a single city in the list of first-tier cities. In terms of population and economy, Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore in India are doing well, especially Mumbai, which is India’s largest economic city with a population of more than 20 million.
The other shortlisted first-tier cities are basically capitals of various countries, namely Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Bangkok (Thailand), Manila (Philippines), Dubai (UAE), Jakarta (Indonesia) and Abu Dhabi (UAE). These cities, in terms of total GDP, are not comparable to India’s cities.
The 12 cities shortlisted in China are all first-tier cities and new first-tier cities in China. In addition to the first-tier cities in Asia, there are 35 second-tier cities in Asia, and 19 cities in China are shortlisted, accounting for more than half, including Suzhou, Qingdao, Xi’an, Foshan, Nanning and Shijiazhuang. Other countries were shortlisted: 4 from Japan, 2 from South Korea, 2 from India, 2 from Saudi Arabia, 2 from Israel, 2 from Vietnam, 1 from Qatar and 1 from Kuwait.
In addition, there are 40 third-tier cities in Asia and 23 in China. In other words, in the ranking of the top 100 cities in Asia, 54 cities in China were shortlisted, accounting for more than half. So, for this list, many people say that this is specifically for China. It has to be said that China’s GDP is very large, but not all cities are so developed.