Li calls for more urbanization efforts

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang expects increased efforts to cope with challenges during the country's urbanization, emphasizing quality of life, the environment and job creation, the Xinhua News Agency reported Saturday.

Urbanization efforts should consider people's needs first and quality will be a key factor in the process, said Li at a recent meeting with more than 100 experts and academics from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Li's comments indicate that the government wants urbanization efforts to be people-centered, rather than just having more people flowing into cities without providing them with a good quality of life, Li Hongyu, an associate research fellow of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). told the Global Times Sunday.

According to Xinhua's report, many academicians echoed the opinion that though the country's urbanization has accomplished certain objectives in recent years, the rate of urbanization has been overstated given that more than 100 million migrant workers could not enjoy the same public services as city residents do, which can only be defined as semi-urbanization.

"Currently, we have failed to put enough focus on the quality of domestic urbanization, but instead paid too much attention to the speed, which causes many problems," said Li Hongyu, noting that many new people arrive in cities too quickly, and before the places have sufficient infrastructure and job opportunities.

China's 2013 National Human Development Report, jointly compiled by the United Nations Development Program and the CASS, indicated that in 2011, the number of urban residents for the first time surpassed rural residents. The urban population is also forecast to grow by an additional 310 million by 2030.

However, urbanization is a route a country must take to realize modernization, said Premier Li in the meeting, adding that as a country with a population of 1.3 billion, China's urbanization is a complex and big task, which needs integrated reforms to support it.

Cities should grow their own industries - especially the service sector - which will create more jobs, attract many new dwellers and finally boost local economic growth, said the premier.

Urbanization will further stimulate China's consumer potential and boost its economic transformation and upgrading, but it will take time, said Li from the CASS.