BEIJING, May 13 -- Hong Kong has risen sharply in the 2005 World Competitiveness Yearbook released by the Swiss business school IMD, moving from sixth into second place just behind the United States.

    Singapore's global competitiveness rank fell to 3rd from last year's 2nd while Iceland, Canada, Finland and Denmark occupied fourth to seventh place.

    China ranked 31st in the list.

    This Swiss IMD competitiveness ranking report mainly covers 60 economic entities worldwide. Its appraisal items have reached 314, with four major items including infrastructure construction, corporate efficiency, economic performance and government efficiency.

    It has been released every year since 1986.

    (Source: CRIENGLISH.com)