- New ranking highlights China’s shifting competition for high-skilled workers
- Digital economy and emerging industries are reshaping where young professionals choose to work
Hangzhou ranked among China’s most competitive cities for attracting and developing high-skilled talent, underscoring the growing pull of digital economy hubs beyond the country’s traditional first-tier cities, a recent study finds.
According to the 2025 China Urban New-Quality Talent Competitiveness Index, jointly released by the Peking University Institute for Urban Soft Power Research and recruitment platform Zhaopin, Shanghai ranked second nationwide and Hangzhou fourth among 296 cities evaluated on talent supply, demand, attractiveness and innovation ecosystem.
Beijing topped the ranking, followed by Shanghai and Shenzhen, while Hangzhou led a second tier that also included Suzhou, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Nanjing, Wuhan and Tianjin.
The report defines “new-quality talent” as professionals with the advanced skills and expertise needed to drive strategic emerging industries and China’s push for higher-quality economic growth.
Digital economy advantage
Hangzhou’s strong showing reflects its position as one of China’s leading digital economy centers.
Home to technology giants such as Alibaba and NetEase, the city continues to generate strong demand for specialists in cloud computing, big data, algorithm development, systems architecture and cybersecurity.
In 2025, Hangzhou attracted 4.35% of all job applications from master’s and PhD graduates nationwide, the fourth-highest share after Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen and up 0.18 percentage points from a year earlier.
Among professionals aged 16 to 34, it has become one of the most attractive destinations outside China’s top-tier cities.
Talent map shifts
The report points to a broader shift in China’s labor market as talent disperses beyond first-tier cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
New first-tier cities accounted for 36.83% of nationwide demand for new-quality talent—the highest share among all city categories.
While first-tier cities remain salary leaders, rising living costs and industrial relocation have slowed talent inflows, allowing cities such as Chengdu, Suzhou, Nanjing and Xi’an to attract workers seeking strong career prospects with lower living costs.
Regional hubs including Guiyang, known for digital industries, Shenyang for advanced manufacturing and Xi’an for deep-tech also attracted stronger-than-expected interest thanks to their specialized industrial clusters.
Beijing continued to offer the highest average monthly salary for new-quality talent at 17,095 yuan ($2,522.52), followed by Shanghai at 16,910 yuan and Shenzhen at 15,975 yuan.
By industry, next-generation information technology accounted for 52.91% of hiring demand, ahead of high-end equipment and intelligent manufacturing (15.41%) and biotechnology and life sciences (12.06%).
Why it matters globally
For multinational companies and global investors, the rankings offer a quantitative snapshot of China’s evolving innovation geography.
Hangzhou’s fourth-place finish suggests leading “new first-tier” cities are narrowing the talent gap with Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen in sectors such as AI and the digital economy.
At the same time, the migration of young professionals toward emerging regional hubs—including Guiyang and Xi’an—signals a broader rebalancing of China’s innovation landscape.
As Beijing prioritizes “new quality productive forces” in its five-year development agenda, where top talent chooses to work may become an increasingly important indicator of future economic growth.
