Ten cities on the Chinese mainland rank within the first 100 on "The World According to GaWC: City Classification for 2020", a research report released by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) on Aug. 21.

The research assesses cities in terms of their advanced producer services using a model called "interlocking network". Cities are classified into four major levels of world city network integration, dubbed as Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Sufficiency. Under each level there are several sub-categories.

Results are derived from the activities of 175 leading firms providing advanced producer services across 707 cities worldwide.

A total of 34 cities on the Chinese mainland appear on the report. Shanghai and Beijing are the two mainland cities that fall into the Alpha+ category. 

According to a relevant research bulletin, advanced producer service firms reflect how cities operate as key components of the global economy.

"Advanced producer service firms are the network makers; they [help] create the world city network through their everyday practices linking offices across the world. This defines a different type of network, an interlocking network," the bulletin explained.

Here are the top 10 mainland cities based on integration into the world city network: 

10. Wuhan 

Category: Beta-