According to research released by the China Institute of City Competitiveness, Macao was ranked the 14^th most competitive city in China in 2015, in addition to ranking second most distinguished tourism city and third best city in terms of preserving its cultural heritage.

China City Competitiveness Research Council has published the China Institute of City Competitiveness for 14 consecutive years in Hong Kong, evaluating the overall competitiveness of China's 34 provinces, municipalities, autonomous regions, Special Administrative Regions, and 358 prefecture-level cities. It released a total of 16 rankings.

Of these, the index of 'China's Most Distinguished Tourism City' embraces the characteristics of urban natural ecological resources, tourism product characteristics, travel history and culture, and other aspects of the visitor experience. Lhasa in Tibet ranked top, Macao ranked second, and Qingdao ranked third.

Macao was ranked third best city in terms of preserving its cultural heritage, with Beijing and Luoyang taking the top two spots. The grade primarily considers cultural heritage, management protection, monitoring, use and inheritance, and other relevant factors.

Measuring social, economic, ecological and information security as main assessment indicators of the 'Safest Cities in China in 2015', Macao dropped one spot to sixth place, while the top three were listed as Hong Kong, Lhasa and Zhenjiang, respectively.