Expatriates have an abundance of choices when choosing where to live in China, but which city is the most foreigner friendly? Zhang Yue reports from Shenzhen.

Visit China? Sure, but which city? China is such a big country and offers so many options. An annual survey among expatriates to find the most attractive cities in China might offer some advice.

The annual survey, Amazing China - The Most Attractive Chinese Cities for Foreigners, started in 2010. It is a joint project by the International Talent Monthly and the China Society for Research on International Personnel Exchange and Development.

This year's survey, conducted in July and August, gathered 1,663 signed votes from foreign experts, and more than 70, 000 online votes from foreign netizens. The top 10 cities were released recently in Shenzhen, Guangdong province.

The survey is based on four major indexes, namely policy environment, political environment, working environment and living environment. Shanghai tops the list for the second time, with Beijing in second spot.

While Beijing is widely acknowledged by foreign experts for its international atmosphere and culture, education and medical treatment, it lags behind in terms of living environment, especially air quality.

"China has changed in scale and in speed in a way that no country has never done before in human history. I don't think we would have been talking about air concerns 10 years ago. But you can't have millions of people out of poverty and avoid nasty pollution at the same time. And if you look at the industrialization process in the UK, in Europe, in the US, these countries have gone through this pollution and they have found a way around it," says Alistair Michie, a member of the Foreign Experts Advisory and Consultation Committee of the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs.

"It is not something that can change overnight. The pressure is huge. But I believe that steps are being taken, and there is already awareness that we should not create polluted cities. You will also find a way to deal with that."

Some second-tier cities, such as Xiamen, Nanjing and Shenzhen, won big votes for their residential environment, policy and working environment, health and medical environment.

China Daily takes a closer look at the 10 listed cities.

Contact the writer at zhangyue@chinadaily.com.cn.

(China Daily USA 11/27/2013 page10)