Which city in China is the best at "Internet+"? Beijing ranks eighth

Regarding the vision of building smart cities, many cities had already reflected it in their urban planning and development outlines five or even ten years ago, but at that time it was difficult for planners to imagine that the Internet would develop so rapidly.

"Internet Plus" has quietly changed people's lives, and these are the benefits brought by the construction of new smart cities.

So what exactly does a “new smart city” look like? Which cities in the country are the “smartest”?

"Internet +" is opening up huge space for improving urban services

At present, the so-called smart city refers to the use of information and communication technology to sense, analyze and integrate key information of the core system of urban operation, so as to respond intelligently to various needs including people's livelihood, environmental protection, public safety, urban services, industrial and commercial activities. Its essence is to use advanced information technology to achieve smart management and operation of the city, thereby creating a better life for people in the city and promoting the harmonious and sustainable growth of the city.

At the 2016 China "New Smart City" Summit, Ant Financial released the white paper "New Space, New Life, New Governance - China's New Smart City, Ant Model", and also released the "Internet +" social service index rankings of 335 cities across the country.

The index system includes two primary indicators, "Internet + Public Service" and "Internet + Convenient Transportation", as well as six sub-indexes, including new government management and service models, new online medical models, new educational services, and big data transportation management. The data used mainly comes from real-time big data accumulated from actual businesses such as Alipay's "City Services" and word-of-mouth, and is characterized by authenticity, accuracy, and continuity.

According to the index ranking, Hangzhou City has become the city with the highest level of "Internet+" and the smartest life in the country with a high score of 383.14.

Ant Financial CEO Jing Xiandong said, "Ant Financial is committed to becoming the new engine of China's new smart city." He said that the core characteristics of the new smart city are "people-oriented", "cooperative governance" and "data-driven". Ant Financial will become more and more infrastructure-oriented, providing solutions such as mobile government services, mobile payment cities, and credit cities for the construction of new smart cities.

The index report shows that "Internet +" is opening up huge space for the improvement of urban services. The average value of the total index city shows that the overall level of urban services in China has continued to grow steadily and rapidly. From January to September 2016, the average index increased from 23.74 to 48.43, an increase of 1.04 times in three quarters.

From a national perspective, in addition to first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, regional leading cities such as Hangzhou, Nanjing, Ningbo, Suzhou, Wuhan, Changsha, Zhengzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing, Qingdao and Langfang have become new growth poles, driving the overall improvement of regional "Internet +" social service levels from point to area.

However, it is worth noting that while the overall growth is going on, the gap between different cities is widening. Economically developed cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen have higher growth rates, while regions such as Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang have relatively lower growth rates, showing signs of "the strong getting stronger". In addition, the growth rate of the "Internet +" social service index in Northeast China is significantly lower than the regional average.

Which cities are the smartest? Hangzhou ranks first, Beijing ranks eighth

In terms of city rankings, Hangzhou topped the list of total index and average monthly growth rate among 335 cities with a high score of 383.14 and a growth rate of over 20%, making it a true double champion. Shanghai ranked first among first-tier cities with a score of 237.23, and its average monthly growth rate of 13.6% was also second to none among first-tier cities.

In addition to Hangzhou and Shanghai, other cities ranked in the top ten include Nanjing, Wuhan, Ningbo, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Beijing, Suzhou and Xiamen.

In addition, Dalian in Northeast China, Beijing in North China, Hangzhou in East China, Guangzhou in South China, Wuhan in Central China, Xi'an in Northwest China, and Chengdu in Southwest China ranked first in the overall index in their respective regions.

In terms of sub-indices, Hangzhou's new business model index of convenient services, transportation service quality index and new online medical model index all ranked first, at 460.41, 281.82 and 775.71 respectively; Wuhan's innovative government network management and service index ranked first in the country with 381.45; Xiamen's big data transportation governance index and Zhuhai's new education service index both ranked first in the country, at 504.80 and 181.04 respectively.

At present, the construction of smart cities has achieved initial results in many overseas regions, such as Singapore’s “Smart Nation Plan” and South Korea’s “U-City Plan”, which will also become a trend in future urban development.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.