Shanghai, a municipality directly under the central government of the People's Republic of China, is a national central city, a mega-city, an international center of economy, finance, trade, shipping, science and technology innovation, and the first batch of coastal open cities. Shanghai is located at the mouth of the Yangtze River, is the leading city of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, across the East China Sea and Japan's Kyushu Island, bordering Hangzhou Bay in the south, and Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces in the north and west. Shanghai's GDP ranks first among Chinese cities and second among Asian cities, second only to Tokyo, Japan. Shanghai is a globally renowned financial center and one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world in terms of population size and area.