The Beijing CBD and Tianhe CBD lead in terms of the amount of foreign investment utilization, with both exceeding $1 billion, according to the report on the development of China's central business districts (CBD) that was recently published by the Research Institute for Eco-civilization of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the China Business District Alliance, and the Social Sciences Academic Press.

According to the report, the scale of foreign capital utilization in CBDs countrywide maintained steady growth in 2020 even though international cross-border investment saw a downturn.

The report on the development of China's CBDs is recently published. [Photo/thnet.gov.cn]

The Futian CBD in Shenzhen, Wulin CBD in Hangzhou, and the CBD in Zhengdong New District in Zhengzhou took second place, with the amount of foreign investment utilization surpassing $500 million.

In view of the differences in the level of openness and economic development among CBDs, the headquarters economy of China's CBDs is experiencing a gradient development pattern, said the report.

In the first tier are the Shanghai Lujiazui Financial District, Beijing CBD and Futian CBD, each with more than 400 headquarters enterprises. The Tianhe CBD is in the second tier, with more than 100 headquarters enterprises.