Beijing – Eastern Jiangsu province has the strongest economic competitiveness out of all 31 mainland provincial-level administrative regions, followed by Guangdong province, Shanghai and Beijing, a think tank report said.

Chongqing, the only inland municipality, has climbed fast on the ranking, rising from 25th in 2006 to 19th in 2010, according to the Report on Overall Competitiveness of China’s Provincial Economy during the Five-Year Plan (2011-15) released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences on Wednesday.

In contrast, Shanxi province has fallen by five spots, from 17th to 22nd .

The report also showed the gap between the eastern and western regions has narrowed throughout the period; however, there are still no western provinces appears in the top 10.

Inner Mongolia autonomous region is the highest among all 12 in the less-developed zones of China. It is ranked 11th nationwide.

Instead of the GDP of each province, the contribution of high-tech to industrial added value and comprehensive energy consumption per 10,000 yuan GDP were given the greatest weight among all 210 indicators adopted to evaluate overall competitiveness.

The English version of the report will be published by Paths International in Britain in April.