Xiamen took fourth place, one place ahead than in 2013, among 200 Chinese livable cities in 2014, according to a report released by the City and Competitiveness Research Center at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
The top 10 most livable cities in China are Zhuhai, Hong Kong, Haikou, Xiamen, Shenzhen, Sanya, Zhoushan, Wuxi, Hangzhou and Suzhou. The cities are mainly located in the Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta and Hainan Province.
The main criteria for the ranking include city construction and management, housing-price-to-income ratio, per capita residential area and density of drainage pipes.
Xiamen is credited as "romantic and leisure Garden on the Sea" in the report.
The coastal city has won several awards as follows:
International Garden City
UN Habitat Award
National Sanitary City
National Garden City
National Environmental Protection Model City
National Forest City
