Best for Business

Landlords charge outrageous rents, the streets are clogged with traffic and the takeover by Communist China looms less than three years away. But Hong Kong is the best place in the world for business. So says Fortune magazine, which crowned Britain’s capitalist enclave No. 1 in its first global ranking of the most attractive commercial centers.

New York City, once a symbol of U.S. urban decay, ranks No. 2, helped by its role as a mecca of the Information Age, with its advertising, television and other media conglomerates. Los Angeles did not make the Top 10 but was ranked among 50 other “good” cities.

Hong Kong was on top in part because it adjoins China, the world’s fastest-growing economy and, with more than 1 billion people, the biggest single consumer market.

The British colony also has superior telecommunications, shipping facilities and low business taxes, Fortune said.

Top 10 cities for global business, as ranked by the magazine:

1. Hong Kong

2. New York

3. London

4. Atlanta

5. Chicago

6. Singapore

7. Toronto

8. San Francisco

9. Frankfurt

10. Miami

Sources: Associated Press; Fortune