Shanghai
Population: 18.58 million
Even though Shanghai did not start its economic reforms until a decade after the southern province of Guangdong, the city has managed to catch up quickly by attracting foreign investment from the likes of Volkswagen (VOWG.DE), HSBC (HBC), and Intel (INTC). Shanghai overtook Hong Kong last year to become the world's second-largest container port and is expected to overtake Singapore to become the world's largest container port this year. The rapid influx of Chinese migrants as well as expatriates is putting pressure on Shanghai's limits. The government is now building nine new satellite cities capable of housing more than a million people by 2020.
