As of the end of 2018, Jinan belongs to the second-tier cities.

On April 26, 2018, the "New Tier 1 Cities Summit and 2018 Chinese Cities Business Charm Ranking" organized by CBN-New Tier 1 Cities Institute released the latest edition of the city's business charm list.

Based on the latest year's commercial data from 170 brands, user behavior data from 19 internet companies, and city big data from data agencies, CBN-New Tier 1 Cities Institute ranked China's 338 cities at prefecture level and above once again, with Jinan belonging to the second-tier cities.

This new list follows the previous evaluation criteria of five dimensions: concentration of business resources, urban hub, activity of urbanites, diversity of lifestyles and future plasticity, and maintains the original algorithmic framework: the weight of the first-tier index is accounted for by the scoring of the expert committee of the Institute of New Tier 1 Cities, while the data below the second-tier index is analyzed by principal component analysis.

Expanded Information

Historical Overview of Jinan:

Jinan is a famous historical and cultural city announced by the State Council. It is named after the south of one of the four ancient ditches, "Jishui" (the former course of which is the present-day Yellow River). According to archaeological excavation data, as far as 9,000 years ago in the early Neolithic Age, there have been pioneers in this area to thrive. The Longshan Culture, characterized by polished black pottery 4,000 to 4,500 years ago, was first discovered in 1928 in the town of Longshan in the eastern suburbs of Jinan and was named after it.

After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, Jinan, which had experienced a long period of primitive, slave, and feudal society, began to enter a new era of socialism. 1958, Lixing County was transferred to Jinan City. Subsequently, Zhangqiu and Changqing counties were transferred to the jurisdiction of Jinan in 1978, Pingyin county in 1985, and Jiyang and Shanghe counties in 1990.In February 1994, Jinan was officially recognized as a sub-provincial city.

In December 2016, Zhangqiu withdrew from the city and set up a district.In September 2018, Jiyang officially withdrew from the county and set up a district.On December 26, 2018, the State Council approved and agreed with Shandong Province to adjust the administrative division of Laiwu City in Jinan City, abolish the city of Laiwu, and transfer the area under its jurisdiction to the jurisdiction of Jinan City; set up Laiwu District of Jinan City, and take the former Laiwu Laicheng District of Laiwu City's administrative area as that of the Laiwu District; set up the Gangcheng District of Jinan City, with the former administrative area of Gangcheng District of Laiwu City as the administrative area of Gangcheng District.

Jinan People's Government - Historical Overview

Baidu Encyclopedia - Second-Tier Cities