For the first time since 2008, the Chinese capital Beijing joins the top 10 most globally influential cities, surpassing Singapore, Brussels, Seoul and Washington DC, based on the 2014 AT Kearney Global Cities Index (GCI) released on Monday.

Beijing rose to the eighth spot, from 14th in 2012, in the global ranking of the world's most influential cities dominated by New York, London and Paris. The top three cities have remained in their positions since 2008.

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The GCI, which ranks 84 cities around the world based on criteria that measures each cities level of global engagement, is conducted every two years. The criteria include business activity, information exchange, human capital, cultural experience, and political engagement, is conducted every two years.

The result serves a comprehensive measurement of a city's influence globally, not just an evaluation that focuses only on business activity.

Beijing Scores Big in 4 of 5 Criteria

According to AT Kearney, the rise in the rankings of the Chinese capital was triggered by sharp progress in four of the five criteria set by GCI. The firm said Beijing scored high in activities of Fortune 500 companies, number of broadband users, international schools employees, and cultural exchanges between museums.

Beijing soared past Singapore (9), Washington (10), Brussels (11), Seoul (12), Toronto (13), and Sydney (14). Shanghai also rose in rankings this year, climbing three spots from 2012 to 18^th. The Chinese cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Chongqing were also mentioned in the list, occupying the 66^th, 73^rd, and 84^th spots, respectively.

Seven Asia Pacific cities were among the top 20 in this year's ranking while seven are in Europe and six are in the Americas.

Japan's Tokyo is the best performer among Asian cities, occupying the fourth spot while Hong Kong remains undisputed in the fifth place, the same position it had taken since 2008, higher than Los Angeles and Chicago.

Taipei dropped from 34th in 2008 to 40th this year due to weak human capital and business activity.