Six of the 10 cities worldwide that most appeal to wealthy individuals as places to live and invest will be located in Asia within a decade, according to the "2011 Wealth Report," published by Citi Private Bank and .

China's Beijing and Shanghai are expected to respectively rank the third place and the fourth place among the 10 cities, while China's Hong Kong will be in fifth place, according to the report.

The report, based on an investigation on Citi's 160 global wealth consultants, has surveyed the attitudes of wealthy individuals whose views can represent 5,000 investors in 36 countries, each of them with average net worth of 100 million U.S. dollars.

The report shows that Shanghai and Beijing are expected to shoot up the rankings by 2020, outpacing western rivals. However, New York and London will fight off competition from rapidly growing markets to retain the first two spots.

Beijing, which already ranks in the top 10, is expected to rise more modestly, from eighth to fourth place within the next 10 years.

The other Asian cities in the top 10 are Hong Kong in fifth place, Singapore in sixth, with Tokyo taking the eighth slot. In addition, Paris and Moscow are in ninth and 10th places.

The increasing appeal of Asian cities reflects the region's strong economic growth rates relative to western markets as well as high employment levels, lower taxes and "livability," which refers to their good education systems and infrastructure.

The motivation for Chinese cities' rise in the rankings comes from their increasing capability to absorb global wealth. The report also pointed out that Shanghai will surpass Beijing to become China's most popular city for the wealthy individuals due to the city's increased appeal in wealth.

Those wealthy individuals choose China because they have had their eyes on China's luxurious property market.

Among the list of world's most expensive property prices, London ranks the first followed by Monaco, New York and Hong Kong, while Russia, India and other major Chinese cities have also begun to cut a figure in world's most expensive property market with a huge increase in price.

China's Beijing and Guangzhou, Russia's Moscow and St. Petersburg as well as India's New Delhi and Bombay are estimated to become the major zones of baronial mansions, said an official of Knight Frank.