China Development Research Foundation and consultancy PwC jointly launched a Cities of Opportunities 2020 report on Sept 6 during the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing.

The report evaluated 42 Chinese cities in 10 indexes, including economic development, people's livelihoods and urban infrastructure. Attention was especially paid to areas such as medicine, production safety and natural disasters.

Guangzhou ranked third in the report after Beijing and Shanghai. The city was listed at the forefront in several indexes and ranked top with Beijing for intellectual capital and innovation. 

The index for intellectual capital and innovation evaluates five aspects spanning education resources, people's levels of education and the cities' achievements in technological innovation.

The report pointed out that Guangzhou has continued to lead in the scale of higher education in China with its people keen to maintain high cultural quality. The city has also taken the lead in number of national key laboratories.