BEIJING, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese cities saw the fastest economic growth among all cities internationally, in 2008, but their overall competitiveness was still only at medium or low levels globally, according to a report released here Tuesday.

   The report, entitled the Blue Book of Urban Competitiveness, was released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). It showed that ten of the 15 fastest-growing cities worldwide in 2008 were in China.

    The ten cities are Baotou and Hohhot in the northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Yantai, Weifang and Weihai in eastern Shandong Province, Dongguan, Zhongshan and Huizhou in southern Guangdong Province, and Wuhu and Hefei in eastern Anhui Province.

    However, Chinese cities ranked at only medium or low levels among world cities in terms of overall competitiveness, the report said.

    The ten most competitive cities in China, according to the report, are Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Beijing, Taipei, Guangzhou, Qingdao, Tianjin, Suzhou and Kaohsiung. But Hong Kong only ranked the 26th among world cities, Shanghai the 41th, and the others still lower.

    Ni Pengfei, a CASS scholar who led the research, said 294 large and medium-sized China cities were rated, including those in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

    The overall competitiveness of a city is based on its advantages in human resources, capital, science and technology, infrastructure, environment, governance and so on.

    The report was compiled by nearly 100 scholars from Chinese universities, statistics departments, and research institutes. (XHTV)