China outperformed other countries in employment, a major factor in the country's rising competitiveness rating, which has risen to 18 this year, according to the latest yearbook issued by the Lausanne Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Switzerland.

The performance gain was attributed to the priority employment has been given as the basis of inclusive growth, said Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the 2017 Summer Davos Forum in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning province.

Started in 1989, IMD's World Competitiveness Yearbook produces annual rankings based on 260 indices, two-thirds of which are "hard" indices. The additional figures are based on the surveys of over 6,200 top executives working for global conglomerates. The list incorporates 63 economies with the full score reaching 100 points.

China's economic performance index ranked second among the economies surveyed. The country managed to create more than 13 million urban jobs for four consecutive years, despite downward pressure. The registered unemployment rate in Chinese cities stood at five percent over the past four years.

A recent report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development highlighted the achievements of China's structural reforms, saying GDP growth in the country largely followed developments in labor productivity with the employment ratio being stable at a relatively high level.