China's Best-Performing Cities

China has taken an economic bruising recently. Its stock market crash and subsequent attempts to rebalance its economy amid a devalued currency have created real worries about ripple effects across the world.

If China’s once-vaunted economy is in trouble, a ray of hope lies in its large and fast-growing cities. A report released this week by the Milken Institute helps us better understand the economic potential of China’s best-performing cities. The report rates and ranks the economic performance of Chinese cities based on job and income growth, economic output, foreign direct investment (FDI), and “high value-added” industries based on their levels of skilled employment. The report then categorizes China’s cities into three tiers, with the first and second tiers representing 34 of the country’s largest cities, and the third tier representing 232 of its small- to medium-sized cities.