Xiamen in East China's Fujian province is ranked the 149th most competitive city in the world. [Photo/VCG]

The coastal city of Xiamen in East China's Fujian province ranked 149th in terms of global urban economic competitiveness on a United Nations (UN) report released on Nov 12.

The Global Urban Competitiveness Report was jointly issued by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the United Nations Programme for Human Settlements, or UN-Habitat.

Shenzhen in South China's Guangdong province ranked fourth among 1,006 cities around the world with a population of more than 500,000, and the other four Chinese cities in the top 20 were Shanghai, Hong Kong, Beijing, and Guangzhou. New York-Newark, Singapore, and London were the top three cities on the list.

The report also released a list of the global top 200 cities with the most sustainable competitiveness, which encompasses a city's economy, society, ecology, innovative ability, and global connections. Xiamen placed 9th in China and 94th in the world.