Given Shanghai's status as the epicenter of international exchanges in China, it is perhaps no surprise that its residents have the highest English proficiency. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY

Shanghai residents have the highest proficiency in English compared to other Chinese cities and regions including Taiwan and Hong Kong, according to the latest EF English Proficiency Index. Shanghai is followed closely by Beijing and Tianjin, both of which surpass Taiwan and Hong Kong.

EF Education First, the creator of the index, is an English training organization based in Switzerland. It surveyed 750,000 adults from 63 countries in order to generate this index.

Shanghai’s better ranking than Hong Kong, however, has been somewhat contentious, with some arguing that residents in the latter are slightly more adept with the language.

“Taxi drivers would be the best way to gauge. I don’t think the Shanghai drivers can match those in Hong Kong,” said Briton Robert McTiernan.

“I find that Shanghai and Hong Kong residents have about the same standard but maybe Hong Kong has a slight edge,” said Donald Forst from Chicago, who also believes that taxi drivers make a good gauge.

Forst, who has lived in Shanghai for two years, added: “As I have traveled around China, I can say that Shanghai is definitely the most cosmopolitan city in Chinese mainland. Besides English proficiency, there are also a fair number of French, German, and Spanish speakers as well.”

To Stefanie Candela of Spain, the level of English proficiency really depends on which part of Shanghai one is in and who they meet — she said that young people in a more cosmopolitan part of the city would most likely speak good English, while elderly citizens would very likely not know a word of the language.

Tang Xiaofei, senior vice president of EF English centers in China, noted that proficiency levels are increasing across the country as the burgeoning middle class recognizes the importance of the English language in an economy that has now gone global.

According to Tang, Chinese companies that are looking to expand their operations abroad or attract foreign capital, such as e-commerce giant Alibaba and tech company Huawei, are starting to seek employees who are proficient in English, and some have even started providing English courses to their existing staff.