The 39th Global Financial Centers Index announced: Asia-Pacific takes six of the top ten spots, with 12 cities from Mainland China on the list. Chengdu's financial technology jumps to the 12th position globally.

Each Daily Reporter｜Zhang Yi    Each Daily Editor｜Zhang Yiming

On March 26, the Z/Yen Group, a British think tank, and the China Institute for Development Studies (China·Shenzhen) released the “39th Global Financial Centres Index Report (GFCI 39)” simultaneously in London, UK, and Shenzhen, China. A total of 120 financial centres were included in this year’s ranking.

The report shows that the world’s top ten financial centres in this edition, in order, are New York, London, Hong Kong, Singapore, San Francisco, Shanghai, Dubai, Seoul, Shenzhen, and Tokyo. Among them, six of the top ten are from the Asia-Pacific region, and Tokyo returns to the top ten after four years. Mainland China has 12 cities on the list, and overall performance remains stable. Shanghai, Guangzhou, Qingdao, and Chengdu rose in the rankings, while Hangzhou, Dalian, Nanjing, and Tianjin saw declines to varying degrees.

What’s worth noting is that among the financial centres in the top 20 of the fintech special ranking, Mainland China accounts for five seats. Chengdu’s performance is particularly striking: it rose by 4 places, moving up to 12th globally. It is not only the fastest Mainland city to advance among the top 20 in the fintech special ranking, but its overall ranking also hit a new high.

Asia-Pacific region continues to lead; Tokyo returns to the top ten

The Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI 39) in this edition evaluates and ranks major global financial centres based on factors such as the business environment, human capital, infrastructure, the level of development in the financial industry, reputation, and more. A total of 120 financial centres are included.

Compared with the previous edition’s index, in this edition 56 financial centres rose in the rankings, 12 remained unchanged, and 52 declined. However, global expectations for financial-centre development have weakened somewhat, with the overall average score falling by 1.82% compared with the previous edition.

Image source: “39th Global Financial Centres Index Report (GFCI 39)”

In addition, the development of financial centres in this edition also shows trends such as intensifying competition among top-tier financial centres and the continued outperformance by leading financial centres in Asia-Pacific over North America.

Among the top five, the ranking remains the same as in the previous edition. From ranks six to ten, there are certain changes compared with the previous edition. In this edition’s ranking, Shanghai and Dubai each rose by 2 places and 4 places respectively, ranking sixth and seventh. Tokyo rose by 5 places to rank tenth, returning to the ranks of the world’s top ten financial centres again after four years.

According to this edition’s index report, top-tier financial centres can currently be divided into two tiers. Tier one consists of New York, London, Hong Kong, and Singapore. The score gaps among these major financial centres are only 1 point. Tier two includes San Francisco, Shanghai, Dubai, Seoul, Shenzhen, and Tokyo, whose overall score gap from tier one is 20 points, but the gaps among these financial centres are also narrowed to 1 point.

From a regional perspective, the Asia-Pacific region has six financial centres in the top ten of the list, continuing to outpace North America and Western Europe. Shanghai, Seoul, and Tokyo each rose by 2, 2, and 5 places in the rankings, respectively, while Chicago and Los Angeles in North America dropped out of the top ten. The report notes that the data collection period for this edition’s index was earlier than the outbreak of recent Middle East conflicts, and subsequent changes in the geopolitical situation may have potential impacts on the stability of top-tier financial centres.

Mainland cities remain stable overall; Chengdu’s fintech ranking hits a new high

This edition has 12 Mainland China cities entering the index list, maintaining overall stability.

In terms of leading cities, Shanghai rose by 2 places to 6th globally, Shenzhen remains 9th globally, and Beijing stays at 22nd globally.

Meanwhile, multiple Mainland cities recorded ranking gains: Guangzhou rose by 3 places to 30th globally, Qingdao rose by 2 places to 33rd globally, Chengdu rose by 1 place to 37th globally, Wuhan rose by 5 places to 71st globally, and Xi’an rose by 3 places to 79th globally.

Image source: “39th Global Financial Centres Index Report (GFCI 39)”

In the sub-index rankings, Shanghai and Shenzhen’s five indicators—business environment, human capital, infrastructure, the level of development in the financial industry, and reputation—are all within the global top 15. Among them, Shanghai’s level of development in the financial industry ranks 5th globally, while Shenzhen ranks 5th globally in the infrastructure domain.

In addition, the GFCI conducted a special assessment of the fintech development level of 116 financial centres. The results show that “the top fintech players’ pattern remains stable, and regional diversity features are increasingly prominent.”

From the perspective of the leading pattern, Hong Kong’s fintech ranking continues to hold the #1 position, followed closely by Shenzhen, New York, Singapore, and London. Among the financial centres in the fintech ranking’s top 20, Mainland China has five cities on the list. Besides Shenzhen remaining 2nd globally, Shanghai rose by 1 place to 6th globally, Guangzhou rose by 2 places to 8th globally, Chengdu rose by 4 places to 12th globally, and Beijing remains 14th globally.

Image source: “39th Global Financial Centres Index Report (GFCI 39)”

What’s worth noting is that Chengdu has not only achieved simultaneous improvements in both the “overall competitiveness” and “fintech” rankings, but also become the Mainland city with the fastest advancement among the top 20 in the fintech special ranking, with its fintech ranking reaching yet another new high.

In recent years, Chengdu’s fintech development has shown characteristics of “policy guidance, platform support, and scenario-driven implementation.” It ranks among the national leaders in areas such as fintech R&D capability, the number of clustered enterprises, and the application of digital finance scenarios. In 2025, Chengdu’s entire city achieved a gross domestic product (GDP) of 2.48 trillion yuan, up 5.8% year-on-year, including 6.5% growth in the financial sector.

Cover image source: Each Daily Media Resources Database