Nine counties and county-level cities in Shandong made the list of China's top 100 counties in terms of business environment.

The counties were Longkou, Jiaozhou, Rongcheng, Feicheng, Pingdu, Tengzhou, Zhucheng, Laixi, and Zouping.

The list was released by CCID Consulting, a firm affiliated with a think tank under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, on Nov 17.

According to the list, counties and county-level cities in eastern China are clearly stronger in terms of business environment, accounting for 66 of the top 100 counties.

The top 10 counties on the list, namely Kunshan, Jinjiang, Zhangjiagang, Cixi, Yuyao, Taicang, Changshu, Jiangyin, Changsha, and Yiwu, are all located in eastern China.

According to CCID Consulting, the list was based on a comprehensive assessment of the service efficiency, enterprise vitality, factor attraction, infrastructure, and natural environment of 1,879 domestic administrative divisions at the county level.