The 2026 APEC Smart City Ranking was jointly released on September 12 at the thematic forum “Building Smart Cities and Space Infrastructure in a Changing World” during the 2026 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS).
The report was co-authored by the Institute for Global Cooperation and Understanding at Peking University, the Institute for Urban Internationalization Studies at Zhejiang International Studies University, Harbor Overseas, the Center for Science & Technology Development and Governance at Tsinghua University, and the School of Public Policy at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen.
The 2026 APEC Smart City Ranking systematically assesses 196 cities from APEC member economies and global benchmark cities. Chinese cities delivered outstanding performance, with Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chongqing and Chengdu ranking among the top 5% alongside New York, Los Angeles, Singapore, Toronto and Chicago. Compared with last year, two more Chinese cities (Chongqing and Chengdu) entered the top 5%, demonstrating remarkable progress and leading strength in China’s smart city development. Built around ten dimensions including communications, artificial intelligence, transportation, energy, water ecology and climate adaptation, public health, emergency response, government services, cross-regional (cross-border) cooperation and AI governance, the report establishes a region-integration oriented evaluation framework. It offers new theoretical perspectives and policy insights for regional and global development initiatives, including those of the BRICS and the Global South.
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