How Beijing Emerged as the World’s Most Competitive City in the COVID-19 Era

Editor’s note: Matteo Giovannini is a financial professional at the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in Beijing and a member of the China Task Force at the Italian Ministry of Economic Development. The article reflects the views of the author and not necessarily those of CGTN.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic certainly has important repercussions on the daily lives of citizens in all corners of the planet, but it has also had a great impact on the economic competitiveness of the world’s largest urban agglomerations as a direct consequence of the level of achievement in containing the infectious disease.

According to the Global Urban Competitiveness Report 2020-2021, a cooperative research conducted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and the United Nations Human Settlements Program that focuses on sustainable urban competitiveness, urban land and finance In urban areas, Beijing is now the top-ranked city in the COVID-19 age, followed by Paris, London, Shanghai, New York, Boston, Sao Paulo, Madrid, Milan, and Toronto.

This year’s ranking, in its sixth edition and covering more than 1,000 urban centers with at least 500,000 residents, differs markedly from last year when the United States of America dominated the list of the world’s most economically competitive urban centers with 22 cities. out of 50 and placing New York in first place for the third year in a row.

The immediate result offered by this year’s list is a clear screenshot of the ongoing power shift with the economic, social and political pendulum swinging from West to East and with a figurative passing of the baton from the United States, the dominant power. in office, China, the emerging power of the 21st century.

Probably the most important factor that has contributed to raising Beijing to the leading place in this ranking can be traced back to the efforts made by the central government and by the municipality of the Chinese capital to implement the development plan to turn a historic city into a leading technology powerhouse for deploying enormous monetary resources to foster sustainable growth and achieve self-sufficiency in technology.

It should be added that this commitment is part of a broader government policy that aims to further liberalize a growing domestic services sector that, due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, has contributed to boosting the fundamental role of a booming digital economy. It now accounts for half of China’s capital GDP, while the service economy accounts for more than 80 percent of Beijing’s output.

Government intervention by injecting billions of dollars into the renovation of Zhongguancun and the development of the new Xiong’an area is only part of Beijing’s secret recipe for success, as the unique advantage of the city, certified by the Global Urban Competitiveness Report, would not have been possible without taking into account the objective presence of a mass market, a rapid rate of consumer adoption, a predisposition to continuous business development and a strong appetite from companies and investors for innovation.

All of these factors have enabled Beijing to become an absolute global benchmark in innovative industries such as mobile messaging apps, electronic payments, ride-sharing services, electric motorcycles and cars, autonomous driving, artificial intelligence, e-commerce platforms and smart apps, while pave. the way for promising Chinese startups to increase their global presence by exporting their business model to different markets.

In this sense, the result of this year’s ranking, considering that the results of scientific research and innovation have become key factors in determining how competitive a city is on a global scale, can be interpreted as a recognition of the vision to long-term Beijing and its dominance. to implement and show how modern cities are expected to behave and react even in difficult times, such as a pandemic.

However, it cannot be denied that a decisive acceleration in China’s innovation momentum must also be attributed to a defensive strategy implemented by the country in response to escalating US technology restrictions. leading China to strive for full autonomy. -Dependence in almost all technological fields to avoid any type of retaliation by the United States.

Furthermore, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has made technological advancement an almost indispensable component of a country’s political agenda, as innovation is expected to play a central role in terms of recovery for current and future pandemics, while ensuring that the flow of trade, capital, people, and ideas runs smoothly in the face of an increasingly fragmented global marketplace.

For several decades, New York has been indisputably considered the capital of the world for its prominence and great influence in many domains, but 2020 will be forever remembered not only for the unfortunate outbreak of a global pandemic, but also as a decisive turning point in the realization of digital transformation strategies in which Beijing is now a world reference.

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