NDRC to speed fuel pricing (2)

Urbanization

"China is likely to unveil a blueprint to guide the country's urbanization drive in the first half of this year and allow it to advance in an orderly and healthy manner," Zhang of the NDRC said at the press conference.

Urbanization is an inexorable trend for development and the biggest potential force driving domestic demand in the coming years. The key to achieving success is to pay attention to the quality of urbanization rather than its speed and scale, Zhang said.

"In the past, China had focused on investment in land and infrastructure in order to promote urbanization, creating a lot of problems such as traffic congestion and environmental pollution," Ni Pengfei, director of the City and Competitiveness Research Center under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times Wednesday.

"The country's new urbanization drive should prioritize the people's need, increase the government's ability to serve the people and allow rural migrants to equally enjoy public services in cities including health care, housing and education," Ni said.

China's urbanization rate rose by 1.3 percentage points to 52.57 percent in 2012, and the government is aiming for 53.37 percent in 2013.