Qingdao, a coastal city of east China's Shandong province, has been included in this year's Global Financial Center Index (GFCI) list by the Z/Yen Group.

GFCI carried out a questionnaire survey with a maximum score available of 1,000 points among experts specialized in financial industry and finally ranked the top 86 from 102 cities.

The index aims to evaluate the competitiveness of major financial centers globally in terms of business environment, financial development and infrastructure.

This is the first time the coastal city has been included on the list among 19th time the GFCI has been released.

London and New York still take the first two places in the latest edition with China's Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing all included on the list.