More than 17 per cent of 6,577 residents randomly sampled from 30 cities in China named Shanghai as the sexiest city in the survey conducted by the Horizon Research Consultancy Group.
Hong Kong came second with the support of 8.4 per cent, while Chongqing came third with 4.7 per cent naming it the sexiest city, slightly higher than Beijing and Guangzhou, which both got the nod from 4.6 per cent.
People gave a wide range of reasons for naming Shanghai as the sexiest city, including its strong economy, iconic buildings and landscape, hosting of the World Expo 2010 and cultural diversity.
Hong Kong came second because it has many celebrities and is an international city. However, sexy local women were the top reason why Chongqing got such a high ranking, China Daily said in a report today.
More than 65 per cent of the respondents who mentioned Chongqing listed beautiful women as their reason, while only 5.3 per cent of those who supported Shanghai gave the same reason, the report said.
About 33.1 per cent of respondents said they "cannot tell" which city is sexy, it added.