By Carol Yang

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China’s expanded visa-free entry policy and technological advances have boosted the standing of its major cities as global hubs, with Beijing retaining a top-tier position in international influence and connectivity rankings.
The Chinese capital rose to sixth place on the 2025 International Exchange Centres Index – up from seventh last year – driven by surging tourist arrivals and improved transport links, according to the annual report released by Tsinghua University’s China Institute for Development Planning (CIDP) and Deloitte China on Wednesday.
Shanghai, a leading financial centre, rose to eighth place this year from eleventh last year, with foreign tourist arrivals doubling year on year in 2024.
According to the report, the city ranked second globally over the past decade for the number of scientific and technological publications, behind only Beijing, and fifth among the sampled cities for unicorn companies.
Hong Kong ranked seventh this year, down from fourth last year, mainly because the latest assessment excluded inbound tourist data from mainland China. Disruptions to global trade also negatively impacted the city’s ranking.
The top three cities – London, Paris and New York – remained unchanged from last year’s ranking.
“All of these movements underscore a key insight of the report that resilience and adaptability have become the defining traits of leading international cities,” Thierry Delmarcelle, Asia-Pacific Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer for Deloitte, said at the launch event.

He added that collaboration, technological leadership, openness and institutional resilience are critical to the competitiveness of future cities.
Global metropolises are the cradle of globalisation, said Yang Yongheng, director of the CIDP. They should act as a bulwark against rising deglobalisation and a stabilising force in the global political and economic landscape, he added.
Introduced in 2023, this year’s report assessed 50 global cities across three areas: their ability to attract global human capital, their influence in politics, science, technology, culture and economics, and their connectivity through transport and digital infrastructure.
Compared to last year’s rankings, seven cities have been added this year: Bangkok, Buenos Aires, New Delhi, Osaka, Hangzhou, Chengdu and Chongqing.
China’s leading cities have seen a sharp rebound in inbound tourism. In 2024, international visitors to Beijing, Chongqing, Hangzhou and Chengdu more than doubled year on year, with Hangzhou recording growth of up to 191.5 per cent, the report’s authors said.
Inbound foreign tourists and international flights accounted for about 20 per cent in the calculations, making them one of the main variables driving the higher rankings of Chinese cities this year. Indicators on business start-ups and technological innovation – both areas of rapid growth for China in recent years – accounted for a combined weight of 16.7 per cent.
China began expanding its visa-free entry policy in November 2023 to lure foreign tourists and businesspeople back after nearly three years of strict Covid-19 controls.

Currently, 47 countries – including 33 in Europe and seven in Asia – are exempt from visa requirements, allowing citizens to visit any part of China for up to 30 days. Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and the southern metropolis of Guangzhou serve as gateway cities for international arrivals.
China welcomed 26.9 million inbound trips by foreign tourists in 2024, according to government data. About 20.1 million people entered via the visa-free scheme, up 112.3 per cent from the previous year.
The travel boom has continued in 2025, with 25.6 million foreign tourist entries in the first eight months, including 15.9 million via the visa-free policy – up 52.1 per cent year on year.
China’s immigration authorities have pledged improvements to the visa-free scheme to strengthen international exchanges amid China-US trade tensions, and to support the domestic economy through increased foreign spending.
In a sign the policy could be expanded further, the National Immigration Administration added Russia to the list of countries eligible for visa-free travel last week.
Additionally, passport holders from 55 other countries can enter China without a visa for up to 10 days when transiting to a third destination, subject to certain conditions.