London, March 12 (CNA) Taipei ranked 21st in a Global Financial Centers Index report published by the City of London Thursday, up four notches from 25th place in a similar report issued last September.

Taipei was included in the survey last March for the first time with a ranking of 41st.

The City of London Corp. commissioned Z/Yen Group in March 2007 to compile the Global Financial Centers Index report, with updates every six months.

The report is based on extensive surveys of global finance professionals, with analysis and detailed discussion of major financial centers or cities’ competitive dynamics. A total of 1,690 banking and financial experts took part in the latest survey, with poll responses collected between July and December 2009.

Seventy-one of the 75 financial centers assessed in the latest survey saw increases in their overall competitiveness indicators, while the ratings of the remaining four declined.

The figures indicate that global financial service business has bottomed out of its year-long recession amid resumed market confidence, according to the report.

The index is compiled in terms of several instrumental factors, including availability of professional workforce, business climate, market access, basic infrastructure, general competitiveness, capital availability and digitization.

New York tied with London at the top of the global rating for the first time, while Hong Kong and Singapore remained at third and fourth places, respectively. But the report said the total scores of the two centers have continued to rise, while the gap between London and New York has been narrowing steadily.

Tokyo moved up two places to fifth place, followed by Chicago (up two notches), Zurich (down one place) , Shenzhen (down four places) and Sydney (up two places) , Shanghai (down one place), Toronto (up one place) , Frankfurt (up one place) , Boston (up three places) , Beijing (up eight places) and San Francisco (up three places.)

Shenzhen ranked fifth when it was first included in the survey last September, but its ranking dropped to ninth this time to tie with Sydney. Shanghai dropped from 10th to 11th, while Beijing moved up from 23rd to 15th to tie with San Francisco.

City of London chief policy planner Stuart Fraser said the latest survey results should serve as a warning to London authorities because not only the United States but also Asian countries have become increasingly competitive in the race to become the world’s new main financial center. (By Jenifer Huang and Sofia Wu)

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