A ranking on the overseas promotion of China's cities is released in Beijing on Dec 30. [Photo/China Daily]

Jinan, capital city of East China's Shandong province is among China's top 20 cities according to a ranking based on the overseas promotion of a city.  

The report was jointly released by the China Daily Website, Beijing Normal University Media Research Center and News Education, Guangming Daily Think Tank Research Center and Media Research Center in Beijing. 

The rankings come from the objective monitoring data from Google News, Twitter and YouTube among 338 cities on the Chinese mainland.  

According to the report, among the 338 cities, Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing, Shenzhen and Guangzhou in Guangdong province, Hangzhou in Zhejiang province, Nanjing in Jiangsu province, Dalian in Liaoning province and Wuhan in Hubei province are the top 10 cities in terms of overseas promotion. 

It also found that highlighted words in the Google News search results of the top five cities are all related to the theme of the opening-up policy, such as "open", "international", "trade" and "world" which reflects the openness, internationalization and economic strength of the cities in question. 

Overseas promotion is seen as an important channel for expanding a city's image across the world, and of great significance for their development. 

Renowned for its numerous springs, Jinan boasts a rich culture and picturesque scenery. Springs are the city's name card and it is said by some that Jinan springs are the best springs in the world.