Shanghai and Beijing top China's 2025-2026 Foreign Talent Attraction Index, with Guangzhou, Hangzhou and Shenzhen in the top five. The survey of 6,258 foreign nationals covered 81 cities and ranked work satisfaction, living convenience and social inclusiveness.
Tags:Source: OT-Team(G), 国际人才交流中心
Shanghai and Beijing have ranked first and second in China’s 2025-2026 Foreign Talent Attraction Index, with Guangzhou, Hangzhou and Shenzhen rounding out the top five.
The findings were released on September 28 by the Foreign Talent Research Center of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security at the opening ceremony of the 2026 Hangzhou International Human Resources Exchange and Cooperation Conference.
The 2025-2026 “Amazing China – The Most Attractive Chinese Cities in the Eyes of Foreign Talents” survey covered 81 Chinese cities with relatively high concentrations of foreign talent, excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. A total of 6,258 valid questionnaires were collected from foreign nationals working and living in China.
The study assessed cities across three dimensions: work satisfaction, living convenience, and social inclusiveness. These results were used to develop the Foreign Talent Attraction Index of Chinese Cities, measuring cities’ overall appeal to foreign talent.
Top 20 Cities for Foreign Talent
The top 20 cities in the 2025-2026 index are:
1.Shanghai
2.Beijing
3.Guangzhou
4.Hangzhou
5.Shenzhen
6.Suzhou
7.Qingdao
8.Nanjing
9.Chengdu
10.Xiamen
11.Dalian
12.Tianjin
13.Xi’an
14.Chongqing
15.Kunming
16.Ningbo
17.Haikou
18.Jinan
19.Changsha
20.Wuhan
The survey also identified the top 10 cities in three specific categories based on the same three dimensions.
For the “City of Opportunities”, the top five were Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
For the “City of Livability”, the top five were Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Qingdao.
For the “City of Inclusion”, the top five were Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hangzhou.
What Makes Chinese Cities Attractive to Foreign Talent?
Tang Fuqiang, Director-General of the Foreign Talent Research Center, presented the research findings at the conference. According to the index analysis, several trends stand out.
International innovation hubs remain major draws for foreign talent. The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area, Yangtze River Delta and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area showed particularly strong appeal. The research found that China’s talent hubs and platforms continue to develop, while local talent ecosystems are improving.
Emerging and specialized industries are another major attraction. Industry clusters are increasingly drawing foreign professionals to China for innovation and entrepreneurship. The research also highlighted stronger talent-pooling effects across city clusters, with active movement of talent between major cities and surrounding areas.
Safety and inclusiveness received relatively positive ratings. The survey found that foreign talent’s overall experience in China is improving. More than 60% of the surveyed high-level foreign experts said they hope to develop their careers in China over the long term.
Digital government services are becoming more convenient. Many cities have established one-stop service platforms that integrate government services digitally, receiving positive feedback from foreign talent. However, the research also noted room for improvement in the effectiveness of talent policies and the availability of information services.
Smaller cities are emerging as new destinations for foreign professionals. County-level cities are leveraging industrial support, openness and cooperation, lower business costs and livable environments to build what the study describes as “small but specialized, small but beautiful” advantages in attracting talent.
The “Amazing China” city survey has been conducted for 16 consecutive years since 2010. This year’s study received support from foreign-expert affairs authorities across China, while the Foreign Talent Research Center and a team from Beijing University of Technology jointly carried out the data analysis and calculations.
The Foreign Talent Research Center said it will continue using the project to support efforts by Chinese cities to attract and retain foreign talent, while providing research and policy references for improving international talent-development environments.