The 2023 lists of the top 500 towns in China and top 50 towns in western China were released on Aug 22.

Among the top 500 towns, 137 are in Jiangsu province. Three towns in Rugao, a county-level city of Nantong, Jiangsu province, made the list, namely, Changjiang, Baipu and Jiuhua, ranking 59th, 414th, and 492nd, respectively.

The lists were jointly released by CCID Consulting Co Ltd and CCID Industry and Information Technology Research Institute Sichuan Co Ltd.

The 2023 list of the top 500 towns in China and top 50 towns in western China required entries to have a general public budget revenue of at least 150 million yuan ($20.61 million). The study employed an evaluation index system for the high-quality development of town-level economies and conducted a comprehensive evaluation based on four indicators: economic strength, development level, industrial level, and consumption health.

Among the 500 towns, eastern China has a strong lead, especially Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Guangdong provinces, which accounted for 137, 86 and 81 slots, respectively. Among the top 100, Jiangsu province, Guangdong province, and Zhejiang province accounted for 37, 33 and 10 slots, respectively.