Nearly 90% Chinese cities under unhealthy development  

报告称中国近九成城市“亚健康” 北京环境排名靠后

中国社科院城市发展与环境研究所17日发布的《城市蓝皮书》指出，包括北京、天津等在内的近九成中国城市处于“亚健康”发展状态。在全国近300座地级及以上建制市中，北京的环境健康指数排名206位。[查看全文]

Nearly 90 percent of China's urban centers are under unhealthy development, including Beijing and Tianjin.

The result came from a bluebook on the development and management of Chinese cities, which was issued this morning, the Beijing Times reports.

Dr. Shan Jingjing from the Institute of Urban Environmental studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) said the CASS conducted an overall evaluation on the development of 287 Chinese cities except Lhasa and Sansha in 2013, using the Urban Development Assessment Index System.

The assessment system consists of 5 indicators, including economic, cultural, social, environmental and management health.

However, Shan pointed out that if a city scores below average in any of the 5 indicators, then there're some shortcomings in its development. It means the city is under unhealthy development, and should be regarded as a "sub-healthy" city.

"Although Beijing is No.3 on the overall ranking, its environment ranks No. 206, one of the worst in Chinese cities, and its management ranks No. 85," Shan added.

Only 23 cities, including Shenzhen, Shanghai, Suzhou and Dalian, can be considered as "healthy" cities, less than 10% of the total city number.