Rugao in Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province, ranked 21st on the list of China's top 100 counties in economic competitiveness released by the Zhongjun Research Institute, local media reported on Dec 19.

Established in 1998, the Zhongjun Research Institute is a national professional think tank for county economic research and consultations.

The competitiveness of the county's economy is evaluated based on indicators such as GDP, GDP per capita, and the quality, speed and vitality of the county's economy.

Other factors include local public finance revenue, residents' incomes, sustainable development, air quality, GDP growth rate, local public finance revenue, investment, and consumption.