File photo: bird's view of a city

50 Chinese cities including Beijing, Nanjing and Chengdu entered an annual survey for 10 most attractive Chinese cities for foreigners, launched on October 30, 2012.

Held by Information Research Center and International Talent Magazine under the State Administration of Expert Affairs, the survey, named "2012 Amazing China—the most attractive Chinese cities for Foreigners" seeks expats' opinions on Chinese cities' friendliness to foreigners. Ballots are cast by Nobel Laureates, recipients of Chinese Government Friendship Award and foreigners working in China.

The survey was launched in 2010 to promote Chinese cities among expats. The third "Amazing China" survey held this year will feature 50 candidate cities, either recommended by provincial administration of foreign expert affairs and publicity organs or volunteering to participate in the survey. 10 cities will eventually emerge as the most attractive cities based on their performance in policy, administration, working and living environment for foreigners.

Expat working and living in China can either vote anonymously online or cast real-name, paper-based ballot. An expert panel consisting of Nobel Laureates and Friendship Award winners will also cast real-name paper-based ballots. A weighting of 1:3:6 will be given to online votes, expat paper-based votes and expert panel votes. HorizonKey, a leading research and polling consultancy in China, will process and analyze votes.

Reviewing the 50 cities' performance in attracting foreign talents, the survey focuses on city openness and talent introduction to understand expat's work preferences and guide Chinese cities' efforts to attract expats to start business and innovations.

The "Amazing China" survey is a part of a comprehensive appraisal of Chinese cities' preparedness in attracting foreign talents. The expert panel of this survey will evaluate candidate cities based on a number of indicators and recommend suggestions. Netizens outside China are free to comment on candidate cities when voting online. The organizer of this survey will publish report on Chinese cities preparedness in attracting foreign talents based on comments and suggestions collected from expats. This report will advise Chinese cities on future improvement in city attractiveness to foreigners.

Online voting lasts through December 30, 2012. Survey results will be announced in early 2013. Xinhuanet.com, the media partner of the "Amazing China" survey, will host the survey's official website, provide timely coverage and promote the survey both on and off the internet.

Appendix:

List of Candidate Cities

Municipalities directly under the central government:

Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Chongqing

Jiangsu Province:

Nanjing, Suzhou, Huai'an and Lianyungang

Sichuan Province:

Chengdu

Shandong Province:

Jinan, Qingdao, Jining and Weifang

Zhejiang Province:

Hangzhou, Yiwu (county-level city), Ningbo and Wenzhou

Liaoning Province:

Shenyang and Dalian

Shaanxi Province:

Xi'an

Hunan Province:

Zhuzhou, Changsha, Zhangjiajie and Liuyang (county-level city)

Hebei Province:

Tangshan and Shijiazhuang

Yunnan Province:

Kunming, Dali and Lijiang

Fujian Province:

Xiamen and Fuzhou

Jiangxi Province:

Nanchang and Jingdezhen

Anhui Province:

Hefei, Ma'anshan, Wuhu and Bangbu

Gansu Province:

Lanzhou and Jiayuguan

Shanxi Province:

Changzhi and Taiyuan

Hubei Province:

Wuhan

Heilongjiang Province:

Harbin

Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region:

Hulun Buir, Baotou and Erdos

Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region:

Yin Chuan

Guangdong Province:

Shenzhen

Henan Province:

Zhengzhou

Guangxin:

Nanning