Of the 40 most livable cities in China, the coastal city Qingdao, Shandong province, took the top spot, according to the China Livable Cities Research Report conducted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

The report ranked the cities, mainly provincial capitals, based on 29 assessment indicators in six areas, including city safety, public service facilities, natural environment, cultural environment, transportation, and pollution level.

Following Qingdao as most-livable were Kunming in Yunnan Province, Sanya in Hainan Province, Dalian in Liaoning Province and Weihai in Shandong Province.

Qingdao tops the livability index list for its outstanding performance in all the six areas.

The report showed that 40 cities achieved 59.92 points on average, just below the benchmark for livability of 60 points.