Promoting Sound Development of Small Cities and Towns

Some Opinions on Promoting the Sound Development of Small Cities and Towns, a document of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, was recently published. Developing small cities and towns is a major strategic issue concerning China's economic and social development. A profound grasp and understanding of the essence of the document is of highly important significance to correctly guiding local governments at all levels to actively and steadily push forward the construction of small cities and towns in accordance with the method of reform.

Over the past 20-plus years of reform and opening up, nearly 20,000 small cities and towns have sprung up on the vast land of China's rural areas, which house 170 million urban population, accounting for nearly half of China's total urban population. We can say that the development of small cities and towns is another important choice made by Chinese farmers in their advance along the road to urbanization after undergoing the establishment of the contracted responsibility system based on the household, with the remuneration linked to output and the development of township enterprises. The proposition made by the Party Central Committee for the development of small cities and towns as an important strategic issue indicates that China's rural reform is faced with a new stage. The development of rural economy is bound to go beyond the scope of the rural areas and to entail the reorganization of production elements to be carried out in a broader space, this will definitely break the barrier of the current system featuring the separation of town from country.

China's current national condition is characterized by excessive rural population and limited per-capita share of agricultural resources. Only by reducing the size of rural population is it possible to bring about prosperity for the farmers, and this is the most effective way to solve the current deep-seated contradiction between the rural economy and agricultural development. Developing small cities and towns is to promote the concentrated development of township enterprises in joining areas and accelerate the transfer of surplus rural labor force through the development of rural tertiary industry.

Developing small cities and towns is also a very realistic choice made by China in its advance along the road to urbanization. China's current urbanization level stands at only 30.9 percent, or 11 percentage points lower than the level of China's industrialization, and 14 percentage points lower than the level of countries with the same per-capita GDP income. Excessively low urbanization level has seriously limited domestic demands and hindered economic growth. Speeding up the urbanization process and promoting the transfer of rural population to cities and towns will, through changing farmers' self-supporting consumption pattern, increase the demand for industrial manufactured goods and agricultural produce. If, before 2015, China's urbanization level reaches the 45 percent level of countries with the same income, by then, 200 million-300 million rural population will be shifted, and nearly 80 million households will move into cities and towns, this development will greatly stimulate the consumption demand of the real estate sector and related industries. In light of China's current urban construction level and its national economic strength, if rural population is urged to transfer on a large scale within a short period of time, the absorbing capacity of the existing infrastructure facilities in medium and small cities is very limited. Moreover, an adaptability and transitional process is required for the transfer of farmers to cities and towns, the contrast of civilization and habit will bring tremendous impact and a certain degree of negative influence to the development of cities, such as problems of social security, employment and environment. The concentration of farmers in small cities and towns needs low cost and a transition process for the farmers to adapt themselves to urban civilization. It will not spark fairly big social upheaval, so it conforms to China's actual national condition.

Expediting the sound development of small cities and towns does not mean that all small cities and towns should be developed. This work must be carried out actively but steadily and in a gradual and orderly manner and on the basis of rational planning and scientific arrangement. It is particularly necessary to prevent rushing headlong into mass action, blind development and blossoming everywhere. The development of small cities and towns is a product that emerges as economic and social development reaches a certain level, and it requires following the specific objective law. Local governments at various levels should give correct guidance to the work, they should give priority support to a group of small cities and towns with a fairly good economic base, definite advantageous location and development potential. Currently in some localities, there exist the practice of pursuing administrative achievements, forcing up targets and issuing orders and going in for large-scale construction of small cities and towns. There are also some small cities and towns which blindly pursue high targets in disregard of objective realities, they engage in the the construction of office buildings, broad roads and large squares. Whereas infrastructure facilities, such as water supply, roads, environment, the disposal of garbage and the drainage of sewage, that concern the vital interests of urban residents, have not been fully solved. As a result, the resources of small cities and towns have not been put into effective use and serious waste has resulted, thus increasing burden on farmers, urbanites and township enterprises and deteriorating the investment environment. The key to implementing the essence of the document of the Party Central Committee and the State Council lies in grasping the spirit of said document, calmly analyzing the local economic development level and objective realities, it is particularly necessary to respect science and the objective economic law; and respect the wishes of the broad masses of farmers. Only by so doing, is it possible to get things related to small cities and towns well done.

It is imperative to boost the development and construction of small cities and towns by way of reform. Developing small cities and towns does not mean that we raise more funds, build more projects or go in for large-scale construction of civil engineering projects. China's current system for government management of small cities and towns is still not perfect; the management of cities and towns is deeply shackled by the influence of the traditional planned economic system. The relationship between the government of small city or town and the higher-level government has not been straightened out. Institutional influence has given rise to numerous short-term actions relating to government management of small cities and towns. Therefore, only by speeding up reform, breaking the shackles of the current system featuring the separation of town and country and constructing and managing small cities and towns in accordance with the method of the socialist market economy, is it possible to fundamentally solve the problem regarding the source of funds for the construction of small cities and towns, to institutionally curb the occurrence of short-term actions, and to begin with the long-term interests of the development of small cities and towns to carry out rational planning and arrangement. Therefore, local governments at all levels should conscientiously act in accordance with the essence of the document and earnestly implement various reform policies. Managers of small city or town government should all the more need to have the concept of changing themselves, engage in bold practice and innovation, build small cities and towns operating under a new system; it is imperative to establish an investment and living environment facilitating enterprise development and in which urban dwellers can live and work in peace and contentment.

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