Beijing, Shanghai and the eastern province of Jiangsu were found to be the three happiest places in China in 2012, chinanews.com reported, citing research.

The research evaluated the country’s 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities according to these categories: economic management, social safety, social security subsidy, community affairs in urban and rural areas, transportation, education, culture and media, environmental protection, and medical care and public health.

Final rankings were done based on 44 indices, such as senior high school enrollment rate, public cultural venues, medical insurance, the ratio of public service expenditure against fiscal expenditure, and per capita green land area.

Beijing has topped the rankings for five consecutive years, and the rest of the top 10 regions are Tianjin, Zhenjiang, Guangdong, Liaoning, Shandong, Fujian and Inner Mongolia.

The research was conducted by students from Nankai University in Tianjin and aimed to investigate the relationship between residents’ happiness and the fiscal expenditure in livelihood. Statistics used in the research are from statistical yearbooks and government agencies.

“Public service is crucial for people’s happiness, and this research will help governments adjust and optimize the distribution of their fiscal expenditures,” said Yang Ming, a member of the research team.