Tokyo Drops To 4th In Global Financial Rankings, Taipei Up 33 Places

The Japanese capital Tokyo has dropped to fourth place in the latest rankings of global financial hubs according to a report released by UK think-tank Z/Yen Group, and the Shenzen based China Development Institute.

Replacing the long time financial heart of Asia in the the top three is Shanghai – a realisation that will be particularly galling to the Japanese business community as it heads in to work this morning.

Tokyo – Japan’s capitalNew York and London remain in first and second place respectively according to the report.

Tokyo had been ranked third on the index since March, when it moved up from sixth place.

The ranking is released every six months – usually in March and then September.

In other moves up and down, troubled East Asian financial giant Hong Kong surprisingly moved up one place to fifth, switching places with Singapore.

Rounding out the top ten, Beijing and San Francisco stayed in the same places they occupied in the March ranking in seventh and eighth respectively, with Shenzhen and Zurich occupying the last two slots.

Taipei in Taiwan meanwhile, after looking to benefit from from the recent protests in Hong Kong, amidst reports of capital moving to the island was ranked just 42nd, below Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

This was however, a significant move up from 75th in the March rankings.

Lisa Conklin

Lisa is an Eastender from London in her second year in Taipei where she teaches English, and in her spare time writes poetry. She is a practicing vegan and lover of yoga who lives 'off-grid' as much as possible. She is our weekend editor.