SZontop10listwithwonderfullivingenvironment

A view of Shenzhen Civic Center from the top of Lianhua Hill. Liu Xudong

Shenzhen is listed among the Top 10 Chinese Cities with a Wonderful Living Environment, according to the 2019-2020 Chinese Economic Life Survey that was released by China Central Television on Monday night.

The survey, carried out by the National Bureau of Statistics, the China Post and Peking University’s National School of Development, aimed to measure people’s sense of fulfillment, happiness and security through 21 indexes.

Collecting a total of 130,000 samples, it is the world’s largest-scale survey on people’s sense of quality of life.

In the ranking, the top 10 are Shanghai, Changsha, Changchun, Beijing, Qingdao, Kunming, Jinan, Haikou, Shenzhen and Xiamen, listed in Chinese character stroke order.

According to the survey, aspects of their living environment Chinese citizens find satisfying include water and air quality, public security, medical services, education, and parks and green spaces, but expect that issues such as Internet governance, food security and social inclusiveness could be better.

When age is taken into consideration, however, Hefei, Qingdao, Kunming, Haikou and Xiamen are wonderful cities to live in for people from 18 to 35 years old, while Changsha, Changchun, Chongqing, Jinan and Shenzhen are preferred by 36-59-year-olds.

According to the survey, citizens in Shenzhen lead a more leisurely life than their counterparts in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou as the average recreation time every day for each Shenzhener is 2.83 hours, 24 minutes more than the average in China.

In addition, Shenzhen citizens highlight physical health more than the average Chinese people. Over 40 percent of Shenzheners have achieved weight loss during the past year while the number for the whole country is less than 28 percent.

In terms of income growth, citizens at the age of 18 to 25 are the most confident group to get a 20-percent increase in income, especially the Generation Z. Also, women are found to be more confident in attaining higher pay than men.

Additionally, over 33 percent of Shenzhen citizens have invested in or started a business, compared to less than 22 percent of the overall Chinese population.

According to the survey, in terms of age, the 36-to-45-year-olds have the strongest intent to invest in or create a startup, while people from the service and financial industries are more willing to invest in or start a business than people from other industries.

Among more than 20 indexes on city governance and social services, Shenzhen scores higher points in 19 indexes when compared to the averages of provincial capitals and municipalities directly under the Central Government.

What citizens find most satisfying are education services, public security, and water and air quality.