The main stadium of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games. [Photo provided to ehangzhou.gov.cn]

The group with an urban population of between 5 to 10 million now comprised of 10 cities across the country, includes Dongguan, Wuhan, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Zhengzhou, Xi'an, Jinan, Shenyang and Qingdao.

Hangzhou, the e-commerce hub in East China, has overtaken Nanjing to become the second-biggest city in terms of urban population in the Yangtze River Delta region.

Driven by its burgeoning digital economy, Hangzhou witnessed a rapid talent inflow and urban district expansion in recent years. The city's permanent resident population increased from 9.81 million in 2018 to 10.36 million in 2019, a surge of about 554,000 people year-on-year, with the annual increment exceeding that of Shenzhen and Guangzhou for the first time, ranking first in the country.