Global investors put Shanghai on top of most attractive global cities over the next three years, as they showed high confidence in the future of emerging cities, according to a survey published on Friday during the sessions of the Summer Davos.

The booming financial hub of China was followed by other emerging cities including Beijing, Mumbai, Moscow and Dubai as well as the well-established city of New York, said the survey by the Greater Paris Investment Agency, a non-profit organization with more than 100 French and global companies as members.

Thierry Jacquillat, president of the organization, said it is the first such worldwide survey to include cities of emerging economies, such as Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC).

The survey wad based on a panel of more than 500 international business leaders interviewed in 22 countries from Asia, North and Latin Americas and Europe between March and April.

About 70 percent of the companies surveyed have a turnover below 1.5 billion euros to reflect investors from emerging markets and multinationals, and 31 percent of the interviews are conducted with companies from the BRIC countries.

"Investors value the growth of a market most, so it did not come as a surprise for investors to give a high ranking to Shanghai and Beijing," said Bai Xuejie, a researcher of Tianjin-based Nankai University, "China is now one of the engines of the world economy, and Beijing and Shanghai are definitely big cities that saw rapid growth."

Shanghai and Beijing, as two municipalities at the provincial level, were ranked the first and second concerning per capita GDP last year among all provinces.

Investors could also find best talents of the country at these two cities, and they would be in a better position to access markets and resources elsewhere in the country, Bai added.

The ranking in terms of current investor confidence was read as New York ranking the first, followed by Beijing, Shanghai, London and Paris.

In addition, western metropolitans remained in top positions in the competition for best image and attractiveness, with New York, London and Paris far surpassing other major cities as the top three. Beijing is ranked the fifth after Tokyo.

Shanghai and Beijing, though the most internationalized cities of the country, are not yet as sophisticated as the top three western cities in terms of infrastructure and services provided, said Zhong Maochu, a Nankai University professor.

The report also said that Beijing and Shanghai were ranked only 12 and 34 in the reality of investments, according to Forbes statistics, despite their high ranking of investor confidence in the future.

London, New York and Paris are among the most cited cities in global newspapers, and Tokyo, New York, London and Paris are preferred cities for location of headquarters of multinationals, according to facts and figures gathered in the survey.

The survey also found that investors are focusing on a mix of western cities and emerging ones, for intended investment over the next three years, with Moscow ranked the first, followed by Paris and Beijing. Shanghai was ranked the 7th.

More than 17 industries were included in the survey, ranging from consumption goods, energy and construction, to heavy industry and transportation, according to the report. It also used data from Ernst & Young European Investment database.

(Xinhua News Agency September 27, 2008)