Thanks. Germany - Nuremberg is working on Android.

Not so much "faking" as rebranding.

Republicans have a history of rebranding bills to nudge public sentiments. Natural gas to "freedom gas" and anti-abortion to "pro-life." Proven by think tanks to be effective. I'm sure you can think of more examples during the Cheney and puppet Bush reign.

Ishmael, the fact Kunming is classified as new tier 1 city without having obtained civilized status makes for a good discussion. Is KM the only city of contradiction ("uncivilized" Tier 1) on the list? Some ranked higher aren't even provincial capitals. I reckon that will change soon.

A few of you may have lived in or visited all fifteen new tier 1 cities and can judge for yourselves the integrity of the rankings. But many of us have not. Without basis of comparison some come to rely on extrapolated data over word-of-mouth subjectivity.

Zhengzhou(#10) and Dongguan(#11) could possibly now be on radar warranting market research. Curious business entities looking in may now become incentivized to visit Kunming and ride the potential BRI wave. A nation yearning to be taken seriously on the global stage, 19 first tier cities has a more robust marketing ring than just 4. A hegemony with perceived 19 metropolises is a powerhouse to be reckoned with.

Good points JanJal.

Yicai's China Business Network (CBN) published these tier rankings and were reposted by CPC's state-level news agencies China News Services (CNS) and China Daily. These collaborative avenues are one of many unofficial, SOE propaganda arms of Beijing to boast economic progress for Chinese social media dissemination. So it is safe to assume rankings were granted green light from the top.

The state may not publicly endorse new tier rankings through official diplomatic channels, but would implicitly back such proxies for the purpose of (1) instilling consumer confidence with arbitrary data beyond flat growth indicators without appearing self-aggrandizing. (2) Justifying infrastructural investments for select cities such as BRI gateways like Kunming. (3) Attracting FDI and employers to fuel development like you said. (4) Distracting public attention from trade war, economic slowdown, stock market, bad debt, and housing bubble jitters.

Kunming is now decreed a Tier 1 city