Promising candidates

The report said the final list will not be determined by numbers or the applications by cities. There is a series of indicators to assess the candidates comprehensively such as economy, innovation, internationalization and transportation. Some specific indexes, such as the number of Fortune Global 500 and FTZs, as well as exhibition centers, will be considered.

So who are the most promising candidates for the remaining places?

In the National Plan on New Urbanization (2014- 2020) published in 2014, China is expected to build seven city clusters nationwide. Ideally, within each cluster, cities will be complementary to each other, which will fuel the development of big cities and bring opportunities to small cities and counties.

The confirmed national central cities are all in the city clusters and play significant roles in the region.

Judging geographically, it looks like cities from China's Northeast and Northwest are missing from the list, which makes Shenyang in Liaoning province and Xi'an in Shaanxi province promising contenders, backed by their vast area, strong industrial basis and great regional influence. However, there also are experts betting on Hangzhou in Zhejiang province and Nanjing in Jiangsu province. Qingdao in Shandong province also stands a good chance since the province has a population of nearly 100 million.