Chinese centres have dominated the latest Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI) released last week with Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen alongside Hong Kong finding a place in the top 10.

New York occupied the top place, followed by London, Hong Kong and Singapore at the second, third and fourth positions respectively, in the GFCI 26, which was launched by Z/Yen Group in partnership with the China Development Institute (CDI) in both London and Shenzhen.

According to a press statement released by the Long Finance initiative, the third-placed Hong Kong and Shanghai at the fifth position retained their places in the latest index compared to the preceding GFCI 25 released in March this year. China's capital Beijing jumped two ranks to claim the seventh position while Shenzhen managed to find a place in the top 10 for the first time after it climbed five ranks to take the ninth position.

In fact, Shenzhen, Dubai, and Sydney entered the top 10 easing out Toronto, Zurich, and Frankfurt.

While all top five centres recorded a drop in their ratings as performance across the index showed slightly reduced confidence, with the overall ratings falling around 2.5 percent from GFCI 25, they managed to hold on to their respective rankings in GFCI 26.

With seven of the top 10 places in the index now occupied by Asia/Pacific centres, the region continues to maintain a strong performance. This was evident from the fact that 20 of the 27 centres in the Asia/Pacific region either retained or improved their position in the rankings, with Chinese city Nanjing entering the index for the first time.

Launched in 2007, GFCI rates 104 financial centres across the world, combining assessments from financial professionals with quantitative data which form instrumental factors for the index. GFCI has published two reports a year for the last 10 years.

Long Finance was established by Z/Yen Group and Gresham College in 2007 to research sustainable financial systems.

(Reporting by Syed Ameen Kader; editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@refinitiv.com)

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