Urbanization Levels Rise in Jiangsu

����Since 1980s, Jiangsu Province has improved the urbanization of its cities and towns. At present, there are 44 cities.

����The province has 1,015 towns, ranking fourth in the number of towns per province in China. There are 101 towns in an area of every 10,000 square kilometers, far above the national average of 19. In 1949 the province had only three cities -- Nanjing, Suzhou and Lianyungang.

����Since 1980s, Jiangsu's economic growth has accelerated. An increasing number of cities and towns have developed along the Yangtze river, the Beijing-Hangzhou Great Canal and major railway lines, highways and coastal areas. The construction of urban facilities has also developed rapidily. The number of taxi cars in the province, for example, has risen to nearly four million.