The CBD of Guangzhou along the Pearl River 

Guangzhou ranked 22nd among 785 cities worldwide, the highest ever ranking in the list of World Cities, whose 2024 edition has been recently released by Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC), one of the most authoritative world city research institutions.

The Alpha cities list released by GaWC

According to World Cities 2024, six Chinese cities, including Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Taipei and Shenzhen, were among its Alpha level cities, cities of the most importance worldwide.