China's new cities - economic powerhouses of the future?

 

 
[Image courtesy of McKinsey & Company]

Leading management consulting firm and CBI member McKinsey & Company has issued a report titled, "Urban world: Mapping the economic power of cities," which projects a shift in the centre of gravity of the urban world to emerging markets in the south and the east.

According to McKinsey, 600 urban centres account for roughly 60% of global GDP today.

In 2007, half of global GDP came from 380 cities in developed regions.

However, McKinsey forecasts that one-third of these developed market cities will fall out of the top 600 ranking by 2025, with 136 new cities from developing markets entering the top 600.

China will account for the overwhelming majority of these new economic centres, contributing 100 cities.

Click here to access the full McKinsey report and here to read additional media coverage.

China Direct would like to thank Ben Cooper, Policy Analyst, CBI Beijing, for this contribution