Hong Kong’s socio-political tensions and chronic air pollution are dragging the city further down global liveability rankings for Asian expatriates, allowing regional competitors such as Shanghai to gain ground, according to a survey by ECA International. It ranked Hong Kong as the 29th most livable location for Asian expatriates out of 470 countries around the world – one spot down from 2016. In the Asia-Pacific region, Hong Kong ranked 15th. “Hong Kong is essentially a first-world city with third-world air quality levels,” ECA’s Regional Director for Asia, Lee Quane, said. Hong Kong’s regional rival, Singapore, continued to dominate the chart, taking the top spot globally and regionally for the 16th year in a row. Four years ago, Hong Kong was ranked 11th worldwide and 9th in Asia-Pacific, but mainland cities such as Shanghai are gaining ground. Shanghai was highest among mainland cities at the 23rd place in the Asia-Pacific ranking, and was narrowing the gap with Hong Kong. Improving health services, availability of goods and services, and infrastructure, contributed to the rise of China’s financial hub, Quane said. Meanwhile, the quality of living in other cities has improved at a faster rate than Hong Kong, contributing to its fall.

Shanghai has topped another listing of the most attractive Chinese cities for foreigners, released by the State Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs under the State Council. Shanghai saw six times more permanent residency applications from foreigners and their families in 2016 than in 2015. On the annual list, Beijing came second and Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, was third. Qingdao, Tianjin, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Nanjing and Changchun round out the top 10. More than 900,000 foreigners were employed in China in 2016.