Shenzhen: population 12.5 million

In four decades, Shenzhen has risen from the marshy Pearl River Delta into China’s undisputed tech manufacturing powerhouse. It’s the headquarters of Tencent (of WeChat fame); Huawei, the world’s second-largest smartphone manufacturer; and BYD, expected to be the number-two electric car brand by 2020. Thanks to a vast cottage industry of tech centred around electronics district Huaqiangbei, prototyping is rapid and cheap, while the lack of intellectual property rights leads to more collaboration and faster development. Afraid of missing the next big thing, international tech giants like Google have begun opening offices in Shenzhen.

Shanghai: population 26.3 million

A leading centre for finance both historically and today, Shanghai has also emerged as a fintech powerhouse. The Shanghai Stock Exchange is ranked fourth in the world by market capitalisation, and more than three million people are locally employed in finance and business services. Shanghai also counts more than a dozen unicorns and thousands of entrepreneurs, nurtured by government investment and private incubators. E-commerce, lifestyle, VR, biometrics, big data and blockchain are all going strong. In a further boost, President Xi announced in 2018 the launching of a Nasdaq-style innovation board to be established by the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Guangzhou: population 14.9 million

An important cog in the GBA machine, Guangzhou, historically China’s foremost city for global trade, is being repositioned as hub for IT, AI, biomedical science and robotics. The government has set ambitious targets to develop 8,000 high-tech companies and 200,000 science and tech enterprises by 2020. Guangzhou’s new Pazhou Internet Innovation Cluster is a vast IT zone in the suburbs, while the ambitious GE Biotechnology Park, a biopharmaceutical project that will cover 3.8 million square feet, broke ground in 2017. Also in the works is the Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City, which aims to foster industrial clusters in IT, AI, biotech and clean energy.