Taicang in Jiangsu province, renowned for its ancient Chinese buildings and German enterprises, ranks third on the list of the best county-level cities in China released by Forbes China on Dec 7. [Photo/WeChat account: taicangdaily]

Taicang in Jiangsu province, renowned for its ancient Chinese buildings and German enterprises, ranks third on the list of the best county-level cities in China, according to a survey published in Forbes China on Dec 7.

In recent years, Taicang's economy has seen constant and rapid development with gross regional production of 124 billion yuan ($18 billion) in 2017 and gross regional product per capita reaching 174,000 that same year.

Prosperous ports, fast-growing enterprises, an all-round transportation network, further cooperation with German companies, an attractive talents policy and a nice living environment: all of the above helped Taicang make the list.

Rounding out the top 10 in the Forbes China survey of mainland China's best county-level cities are Kunshan, Jiangyin, Nan'an, Yiwu, Haining, Cixi, Zhuji, Rugao and Rui'an.

Forbes China started to issue lists of best cities in mainland China in 2004. Titles include best cities for business, best innovative cities and cities best for tourism. Forbes China compiled the 2018 list by assessing eight indexes, including talent, city size, consumptive power and passenger throughput.

Taicang was also listed by Forbes China as one of China's 30 most innovative cities on Nov 30 with a ranking of 19th place.