A charming panorama of Meihekou city in Jilin province. [Photo provided to gojilin.gov.cn]

Meihekou, Yanji and Panshi cities – all located in Northeast China's Jilin province – have been recognized nationally for their premium standards of development.

They featured in a series of lists that sprang from 2022 research for a high-quality development index for small and medium-sized cities in China that was released recently, according to local media reports.

Meihekou city was selected as one of the top 100 counties and cities in China for comprehensive strength, one of the top 100 counties and cities for national green development – as well as one of the top 100 counties and cities for national investment potential and the top 100 counties and cities for new urbanization quality in China.

An impressive river view of Yanji city, in the Yanbian Korean autonomous prefecture. [Photo/Jilin Daily]

Elsewhere, Yanji city was selected as one of the top 100 counties and cities for national green development, one of the top 100 counties and cities for national science and technology innovation and one of the top 100 counties and cities for new urbanization quality in China.

Panshi city, meanwhile, was selected as one of the top 100 counties and cities with national investment potential.

An idyllic view of Panshi city in Jilin province [Photo/Jilin Daily]

The designated small and medium-sized cities refer to cities with a permanent population of 100,000 to 1 million people.

The research results revealed that small and medium-sized cities were the main force driving the transformation of the country's economy from high-speed development to high-quality development – playing an important role in the construction of Chinese-style modernization in the new era.