Shenzhen has been voted one of China's "most creative cities" by netizens around the world.

An award ceremony was held in Beijing yesterday to honor the selected cities, which also include Beijing, Shanghai, Pu'er, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Suzhou, Jiujiang, Wuxi and Yinchuan. The ranking was compiled by CRI Online.

Central Government officials, representatives of the chosen cities, foreign ambassadors, representatives of foreign institutions, high-level professionals and scholars attended the award ceremony.

It's CRI Online's first ranking of China's most creative cities. The site published selections of China’s best tourist resorts in 2010 and China’s best cultural cities in 2011, after encouraging netizens from around the world to cast votes.

Criteria for this year's creative cities ranking included "unique and creative city promotion, personable creative services, booming creative industries and pleasant creative lifestyles," CRI head Wang Gengnian said.

Wang disclosed at yesterday's award ceremony that next year's ranking will feature China's most ecological cities.

(Source: Shenzhen Daily)