Taipei, the provincial capital of Taiwan, has slipped to sixth in the ranking list of China's 200 most competitive cities, according to a 2006 report released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) on Sunday.

Taipei was ranked second in 2005 but the top five cities are now Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou.

Kaohsiung, Hsinchu and Keelong, all cities in Taiwan, dropped outside the top ten and ranked 14th, 27th and 21st respectively.

The rankings were based on analyses of market scale, economic growth, production efficiency, resource-saving, economic structure and living standards in the cities, said Chen Jiagui, vice president of the CASS.

Compared with the most competitive cities overseas, Chinese cities are still at a lower level in terms of competitiveness, but have developed rapidly and have a bright future, Chen said.

(Xinhua News Agency March 26, 2007)