Shanghai was voted most attractive Chinese city in a survey of nearly 20,000 expatriates throughout the country.
Other cities that followed Shanghai in the top five were Beijing, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Qingdao.
Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Suzhou, Xiamen and Kunming rounded off the top 10 list.
The survey was conducted in the second half of 2014 by the International Talent magazine and China Society for Research on International Professional Personnel Exchange and Development.
Shanghai scored highest in the ranking's four important indexes that include policies for foreign professionals, the working environment and the living environment. The report also cited areas for improvement.
About 40 percent of the respondents said that Shanghai's environment is poor, pointing out to its low air and water quality.
Furthermore, 14.3 percent said that the government needs to improve the services it provides, such as social security system and traffic management.
More than half of the respondents hoped departments or organizations in Shanghai would improve medical insurance and service for foreigners, and simplify the procedures for them to enter the country.
Shanghai has more than 88,000 resident foreign experts, one-sixth of the national total.
In 2010, it was reported by China Briefing that there were 209,000 foreigners residing in Shanghai and 107,000 in Beijing.
There was no available data since then, although it was recently reported that foreigners are starting to leave China more frequently than they are arriving.
Just last year, an HSBC survey indicated that China was the most popular destination among expats, followed by Germany and Singapore.