Transcript: Press conference on new urbanization plan

China Central Television: The long-expected urbanization plan has finally been released. It covers a wide range of issues. I have some questions for Vice Minister Xu Xianping. Since the NDRC was in charge of formulating the plan, what do you think are the major breakthroughs and highlights of the plan? In the future, how will the urbanization drive benefit China? Thank you.

Xu Xianping: Since China introduced the reform and opening-up policy more than 30 years ago, we have made significant progress in urbanization, but there are also many conflicts and unsolved problems. The urbanization drive has now reached a crucial stage. The former extensive expansion approach is no longer appropriate. We must find a new way out. The public are curious about why the urbanization drive is called "new-type" urbanization. I think there are six reasons.

First, the plan focuses on the people and will try to convert the rural population into urban residents in an orderly manner. Last year, about 730 million people lived in cities and towns, and more than 200 million of them were migrant workers and their families. Although the majority of Chinese industrial workers are migrant workers, they have never enjoyed the benefits that city dwellers enjoy. Therefore, the plan requires us to promote the reform of the household registration system and the equalization of basic public services, implement a household registration policy with different eligibility requirements for people under different conditions, and progressively grant urban residency to rural migrant workers and their families who are both willing and able to stay in cities and towns where they have had jobs or carried out business for a long time. A residence permit system will be introduced to allow people who have moved from rural areas to cities but have not yet gained urban residency to enjoy basic public services. Therefore, the plan is the first document regulating the proportion of permanent urban residents and the proportion of urban residents with a household registration, and I think this is its biggest difference from the past, and the biggest area of progress.

Second, the plan stresses the integrated development of industrialization, the application of IT, urbanization and agricultural modernization. This is an inevitable requirement of China's modernization drive. Industrialization is the driving force of modernization, agricultural modernization is its foundation, IT application provides fresh ideas and as new impetus, and urbanization provides a platform. By integrating industrialization, the application of IT, urbanization and agricultural modernization, we will push modernization further forward.

Third, the plan stresses improving the spatial layout, which requires the coordinated development of cities and small towns, based on major city clusters. The three city clusters in eastern China, namely the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta, account for only 2.8 percent of the country's total land area, but they are home to 18 percent of its total population and contribute 36 percent of its total GDP. Due to the deteriorating environment and increasing global competition, they now feel a pressing need for adjustment, optimization, transformation and upgrading. Therefore, the plan requires us to foster and develop new city clusters, such as the Chengdu-Chongqing region, the Central China Plain and the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, in central and western China where there are more resources and a better environment, in order to promote the balanced development of our geographical space and create new regional economic growth poles. Currently, China has 142 cities with a population of more than one million, while in 1978, there were only 29. There are 25 cities in the world with a population of more than 10 million, and six of them are located in China. The country also has 10 cities with a population of between five million and 10 million. Some of these megacities are facing conflicts between their growing population and decreasing urban carrying capacity. There must be an effective regulation to tackle the problem. Therefore, the plan requires us to intensify the integration of transportation and information networks, promote the distribution of key industries and public resources, and shift away some of the megacities' economic and other functions, so as to help small and medium-sized cities and small towns to develop industries and attract residents to city clusters. While tapping the full potential of major cities to drive the development of their surrounding areas, we must accelerate the development of small and medium-sized cities, and promote the development of small towns with special focuses.

Fourth, the plan stresses ecological conservation. We must promote green, circular and low-carbon development, conserve water, land, energy and other resources and use them efficiently, intensify ecological restoration and environmental treatment, promote the development of green cities and smart cities, and encourage green lifestyles and low-carbon city construction, operation and management methods. We must reduce the negative effects on nature and environment as much as possible.

Fifth, the plan stresses cultural continuity and focuses on the special features of different cities. We must bring out these differences and promote the diversified development of different cities according to their own natural, historical and cultural characteristics, and avoid cookie-cutter development. We must protect cultural relics when renovating old cities, promote traditional cultural values when building new cities, and build up beautiful cities and towns with a long history, a rich culture, a unique landscape and salient ethnic characteristics and people-oriented cities with profound cultural atmosphere and salient modern features.

Sixth, the plan stresses reform that will set up a mechanism conducive to the healthy development of urbanization. We will comprehensively reform key areas and links concerning people, land and funds, gradually change the urban-rural dual structure, and integrate the developed and underdeveloped regions in cities. The reform will give fresh impetus to the urbanization drive and release its full potential.

In a word, these six parts are the new ideas and the implementation focus of the plan. Thank you.