OREANDA-NEWS. December 28, 2012. Hefei ranks 16th in urban construction level among 28 provincial capitals and sub-provincial cities. The top 10 are, in order, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Nanjing, Shenzhen, Xi'an, Ningbo, Fuzhou, Changsha and Dalian, according to the "Beautiful China" research report about provincial capitals and sub-provincial cities' construction level (2012) released recently by an evaluation group at Sichuan University .

In indices of politics, cultural construction and ecological construction, Hefei is 2nd to Changsha,15th and 17th, respectively.