Insights丨Foreign experts: The world draws lessons on China’s integrated urban-rural development

By Chen Tianhao

(ECNS) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang delivered a government work report on Tuesday morning, noting that China will promote integrated development between urban and rural areas, advance coordinated development between regions and optimize regional economic layout. Many foreign experts are paying attention to China's progress and achievements in this field, therefore, China News Network exclusively interviewed Berthold Kuhn, Adj. professor at Freie Universität Berlin and consultant to the European Commission, Dennis Mwaniki, executive director of China-Africa Centre: Africa Policy Institute, and Lewis Ndichu, research director at the Centre for China-Africa Policy.

"China's commitment to bridging the gap between urban and rural areas is commendable," said Kuhn, "through strategic investments in infrastructure, poverty alleviation measures, and social welfare programs, China is striving for more balanced development. This integration is vital for sustainable growth and social harmony."

According to Mwaniki, China has advanced urban-rural integration through infrastructure development. The construction of roads, ports, and railways has facilitated the movement of people, goods and services from urban to rural, ensuring shared prosperity for all civilizations.

And Ndichu said that China has improved the conditions of roads linking urban and rural areas, small water management and irrigation facilities in villages and townships, food storage and basic processing facilities, renewable energy power facilities, and small agricultural mechanization equipment. "More so, Africa continues to draw lessons on China's own experience of developing rural infrastructure needs in the context of South-South cooperation," Ndichu concluded.