| Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, November 19, 2001 |
Chinese City Officials Discuss Urban Development |
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Over 70 mayors and other officials from 30 Chinese cities gathered in Haikou of Hainan Province Saturday to discuss the opening and development of Chinese cities following China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO). The participants will discuss city management, how to improve the investment environment, the development of human resources and the government service system.
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Over 70 mayors and other officials from 30 Chinese cities gathered in Haikou of Hainan Province Saturday to discuss the opening and development of Chinese cities following China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Lin Liyun, vice-chairwoman of All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, said at the opening ceremony of the three-day forum that the development of Chinese cities will face a new situation following the WTO entry.
She also noted that the forum will surely to push forward urbanconstruction, as well as the healthy development of China's economy. The participants will discuss city management, how to improve the investment environment, the development of human resources andthe government service system.
The forum is being co-sponsored by the Hainan Provincial Government, the Chinese Association of Mayors, and the Development Research Center under the State Council.
Urbanization Rate to Reach 60% in 20 YearsChina's urbanization rate would reach around 60 percent in 20 years, said Li Shantong, director of the Development Strategy and Regional Economy Research Department of the State Council Development and Research Center, taking stock of the country's population and economic growth in two decades in the future.
Li made the remark at a forum on China's urbanization process opened in Beijing, May 16.
Urbanization rate is a major indicator representing a country's modernization level. According to Li, China's current rate is only 31 percent, 15 percent lower than world average, 27 percent less than that of medium-income countries and 47 percent lower than that of high-income countries, pointing to the arduous task of urbanization process in China.
The "World Development Indicators" (WDI) published by World Bank revealed the connection of urbanization rate to per capita GDP. China's per capita GDP in 2000 was around US$850, which would reach over US$2,800 by 2020 based on an annual GDP growth rate of around 7.2 percent and a population growth of 0.8 percent. By then, China's urbanization rate would reach 60 percent, namely, 1.5 percentage point growth that will have to be assured from year to year.
For big cities claim higher productivity, greater labor efficiency and a higher degree of infrastructure construction efforts should be made for an increased number of big cities to be developed and provided with improved functions along with medium- and small-sized cities to be built. When a per capita amount of less than US$3,000 of GDP is reached economic elements chiefly flow to big cities.
Besides, a rational pattern exemplifying city construction of different sizes should be sought Big cities should be built with investment attracted, new enterprises launched, secondary and tertiary industries well developed. Professional cities both small and medium-sized should focus on commercial business. While small towns should serve to offer jobs to rural surplus labor and promote economic and social development of the rural areas as a whole.
Breaking BarrierIn tandem with the rapid economic development and social changes, the barrier of China's existing household registration system, that restricts people's freedom to migrate and divides the country into two distinctive urban and rural worlds, is expected to be broken very soon.
China has 900 million farmers, and the number of rural surplus laborers is 160 million, according to statistics released early this year.
Experts predicted that with the progress of China's urbanization, 7 million to 8 million rural surplus laborers will be absorbed by small cities and towns each year in the future.
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