BEIJING -- Shanghai, Hangzhou and Beijing were the top three Chinese cities seeing the strongest development in mobile payment in 2018, a recent report showed.

The ranking was based on indexes measuring the mutual promotion between mobile payment and urban competitiveness, according to a report on China's mobile payment development jointly released by the State Information Center, China Economic Information Service, and Ant Financial.

Beijing stood out in terms of mobile payment information technology, while Shanghai was the front runner in use of mobile payments in business consumption.

Hangzhou came first in using mobile payments in government affairs and livelihood.

Having become a significant impetus for the country's economic growth, mobile payment is reshaping traditional consumption patterns and catalyzing new business models, according to the report.

Yang Peng, vice president of Ant Financial, said mobile payment played a crucial role in boosting the urban economy, improving employment and accelerating consumption upgrading.

China's digital economy reached 31.3 trillion yuan (about $4.6 trillion) in 2018, accounting for 34.8 percent of the country's total GDP.