Half of Chinese population to live in cities by 2020

China has entered a period of accelerated urbanization and it is estimated that by 2020, 50 percent of the population will live in cities and 75 percent will live in cities by 2050, according to the 2009 China Urban Development Report released by the China Association of Mayors in Beijing on May 11.

The report showed that in 1949, China only had 132 cities and its urbanization level accounted for about 11 percent. In the last 60 years, China's level of urbanization has achieved rapid development and at the end of 2009, China had a total of 655 cities in 31 provinces and autonomous regions including municipalities directly under the central government, reaching nearly a 47 percent urbanization level. The urban population stood at almost 622 million.

However, China's current level of urbanization still lags behind the development of its industrialization. In addition, China's developmental level is far below that of developed countries which stands at 85 percent and also lower than the world average of 50 percent. Therefore, China has broad development room in the future.

By People's Daily Online