The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' annual rankings for China's most competitive cities are out and Shanghai's gotten the bronze once again, coming behind Hong Kong and Shenzhen for the third time in three years. Drats! But officials in the 'Hai said that the CCP's plan to boost Shanghai into a global financial center by 2020 would definitely improve its chances for next years' rankings. Hopefully so! While Shanghai might be up there with the crème of the crop in China, compared to the rest of the world, all three cities are still lacking. Hong Kong was only listed at 26th in last year's Global Urban Competitiveness Report and Shanghai at 41st. Shenzhen, strangely enough, was placed even lower (at 64th), calling into question the different ways China and the rest of the world justifies competitiveness. more ›