| |
|
|
China is considering making urbanization a priority in the first
five-year plan period of the new century to sustain economic
and social growth, officials of the State Development Planning
Commission (SDPC) said.
The commission, a key planner of China's 10th Five-Year Plan
(2001-05), concluded that a correct urbanization strategy is
crucial to addressing a host of problems facing China, such
as sluggish consumer demand and backward rural economy, according
to Xu Lin, a division director.
China's guiding principle of urbanization is to plan and develop
super-large and large cities, expand medium-sized cities, and
improve small cities and towns, according to SDPC sources.
"We deem that accelerating urbanization pace is the most
effective way to expand domestic demand and encourage rural
modernization," Xu said in an interview with China Daily.
The country's 1997 urbanization rate of 32 percent lagged far
behind the world's average of 50 percent, according to the World
Development Report 1998/99.
To bring up China's urbanization level to the world average,
the country will have to turn over 300 million rural dwellers
into urban residents, which could create tremendous investment
and consumption demand, Xu said.
A 1-percent urbanization increase annually over the next 15
years could stimulate the market demand and rural consumption
that the government is looking for, according to the official.
Such an expansion rate calls for shifting 85 million of the
rural population into cities within the next five years. According
to SDPC projections, if each of them spends 30,000 yuan (US$3,600)
in housing and urban infrastructure construction, there will
be demand for construction and housing rental worth 2,550 billion
yuan (US$300 billion), Xu said.
Also urban newcomers will purchase an estimated 400 billion
yuan (US$48.2 billion) worth of consumer products including
color TVs, refrigerators and washing machines annually, thus
substantially alleviating industrial product surpluses.
"The urbanization process will create job opportunities
and help unemployment," Xu said.
Fewer farmers in rural areas will contribute to readjusting
crop growing mix, expanding need for farm produce and enlarging
agricultural production scale, narrowing the income gap between
rural residents and urban residents, according to the official.
The SDPC has reached a consensus that China now has favorable
conditions for speeding up urbanization through 2015, when the
country's urbanization rate should reach 50 percent, noted Xu.
Although the planned rate of urbanization increase is much faster
than that over the past 50 years, the SDPC officials said they
are optimistic the rate can be achieved given economic development
and policy support factors.
(China Daily10/18/1999)
|
|
|
|
