The results of the survey of "2023 China's Happiest City" were released at the 2023 China Happy City Forum held in Chengdu on November 24, 2023. Ten provincial capitals and cities specifically designated in the plan, including Chengdu and Hangzhou, eleven prefecture level cities, including Wenzhou and Taizhou, three municipal districts, including Xicheng District of Beijing, ten urban districts, including Tianhe District of Guangzhou and Fuyang District of Hangzhou, and eleven county-level cities, including Taicang and Rui'an, were elected.
The survey and selection activity of "China's Happiest City" was sponsored by Outlook Oriental Weekly and has been held for 17 consecutive years. China Happy City Lab and Baidu Research Institute Business Intelligence Lab provide technical support. The theme of this year's survey and selection activity is "high-quality development makes the city happier". It focuses on how the city focuses on the people, constantly promotes the modernization of its governance system and capacity, realizes high-quality development, and walks out a path of urban development with Chinese characteristics. It surveys the happiness of Chinese cities and introduces the vivid practice of building a happy city.
Liu Jian, the vice president of Xinhua News Agency, said in his video address that the city, as the carrier of citizens' happy life, is undertaking new missions, ushering in new opportunities and creating new glories in the process of achieving high-quality development.
The survey and selection activity in 2023 lasted nearly five months. After strict selection of big data collection, questionnaire survey, material declaration, field research, expert review and other links, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Changsha, Shenyang, Hohhot, Qingdao, Taiyuan were selected as the "happiest cities in 2023 China" (provincial capital and cities specifically listed in the plan); Wenzhou, Taizhou, Taizhou, Suzhou, Ordos, Wuxi, Huzhou, Panzhihua, Weihai, Yingkou and Jiayuguan were elected as "the happiest cities in China in 2023" (prefecture level cities); Xicheng District of Beijing, Minhang District of Shanghai and Huangpu District of Shanghai were elected as the "2023 happiest urban area in China (directly under the Central Government)"; Tianhe District of Guangzhou, Fuyang District of Hangzhou, Longquanyi District of Chengdu, Gongshu District of Hangzhou, Yinzhou District of Ningbo, Lin'an District of Hangzhou, Yuecheng District of Shaoxing, Shuangliu District of Chengdu, Lucheng District of Wenzhou, and Wenjiang District of Chengdu were elected as "the happiest city in China in 2023"; Taicang City in Jiangsu Province, Rui'an City in Zhejiang Province, Yuyao City in Zhejiang Province, Yueqing City in Zhejiang Province, Ningxiang City in Hunan Province, Ejin Horo Banner in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Changsha County in Hunan Province, Gongyi City in Henan Province, Rongcheng City in Shandong Province, Liuyang City in Hunan Province, and Ninghai County in Zhejiang Province were elected as "the happiest city in China in 2023" (county-level city).
According to the material declaration and the single survey of happy city big data, Yunfu City, Guangdong Province, Cixi City, Zhejiang Province, Jingjiang City, Jiangsu Province, and Kenli District, Dongying City were elected as "2023 China's most happy city, a beautiful city suitable for work".