Characteristics of Chinese Cities Based on the Location of Head Offices of State-owned, Privately-owned and Foreign-invested Enterprises

Abstract

The study used statistical data to determine the relationship between the location, size and type of head office of state-owned, private and foreign-invested enterprises and the city. Over the past two decades, these enterprises have had their own characteristics. First, state-owned enterprises are overwhelmingly concentrated in Beijing, especially the larger-scale central enterprises. Second, privately-owned enterprises are concentrated in Shenzhen and Beijing, while there is also a tendency for larger enterprises to locate their headquarters in Hangzhou and Suzhou since 2010. Finally, foreign-invested enterprises tended to locate in Shenzhen in 2001, but in 2020 many of them are headquartered in Shanghai.