Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen have been rated as the top three financial centers among Chinese mainland cities, according to a new report.

While the three cities top the national list in comprehensive competitiveness of the financial industry, their growth is also faster than other cities, according to the China Financial Center Index (CFCI), compiled by the Shenzhen-based think tank China Development Institute (CDI) and released on Friday.

A significant trend is that the gap between different levels of financial centers in China is widening, with developed financial cities growing more robust, said Liu Guohong, director of the Finance and Modern Industry Research Center at CDI.

For example, financial development in Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen, three national financial centers, is faster than regional financial centers, such as Guangzhou, Hangzhou and Chengdu.

Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Tianjin, Chongqing, Nanjing, Wuhan, Zhengzhou, Suzhou and Xi'an rank in the top 10 regional financial centers in the country, the report said.

CFCI, which is published once a year since its first launch in 2009, bases its results on a number of indicators, including development of local financial institutions, financial openness, capability of attracting financial talent, risk management capability and financial policies.

Shanghai ranks No 1 in terms of financial openness and development level of the funding sector. Beijing is the strongest in capital market utilization and capability of talent absorption. Shenzhen, meanwhile, is the most developed in the development of local financial institutions, risk management capability and financial policies.

The accumulative added value of the financial industry among the 31 Chinese mainland financial centers included in the CFCI amounted to 4.44 trillion yuan ($680 billion) in 2019, accounting for 57.7 percent of the nation's total, the report said. The percentage was 56.1 a year earlier.