Shanghai advanced from fourth to second place in terms of the highest disposable income among China's sixteen cities by the Yangtze Delta, aided by robust economic growth and influx of foreign investments.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the average disposable income for Shanghai residents surged 14.7% year on year in the first half to RMB 12,278.

With estimated GDP amounting to US$450 billion 'half the size of India's entire economy' and a phenomenal economic growth rate of 12% per year, Shanghai's economy is forecasted to expand five-fold by 2020, surpassing that of New York in 1997, sources from BBC News said.

Several other achievements also contributed to the boost in its ranking. The presence of more than 500 reputable multinational companies headquartered in the city, its emergence as one of the key financial sectors in East Asia, and the massive inflow of foreign investments, were all key factors in its elevated position as one of China's richest cities.

Nevertheless, despite its laudable performance, it was beaten to the throne by Shaoxing, a major city in Zhejiang, which topped the charts with an average disposable income of RMB 12,362.

According to Li Mingliang, an analyst at Haitong Securities Co, cheaper land and labor costs in Zhejiang and Jiangsu as compared with Shanghai, may have enhanced the city's allure towards companies aiming to expand production line activities.

The bureau had also announced that the 16 cities in the Yangtze River Delta witnessed an increase of 15.3% from last year to an average of RMB 10,566 in disposable income. This was attributed to rapid growth in income of Jiangsu Province residents which lowered the discrepancy in income between the better developed provinces with the less developed ones.