Premier urges parallel development of urbanization, modern agriculture on Henan trip

Urbanization and agricultural modernization shall run in parallel, Premier Li Keqiang said during his three-day visit to central China's Henan Province, which ended Friday.

Urbanization can stimulate domestic demand and promote economic upgrading in China's highly-populated central provinces, such as Henan, the premier said during his visits to a new area in the capital city Zhengzhou and Xinzheng International airport.

The premier called for more efforts to improve urban infrastructure, including airports and railways, so that transportation costs can be reduced. He also emphasized the coordinated development of both big and small cities with adequate attention to job creation.

Li walked through corn fields and said that this year's bumper harvest was a prime indicator of the improving economy. Regarding agricultural modernization, such as industrial-sized farming, officials should introduce measures that are tailored to the needs of the specific location, he added.

During his time with migrant-worker farmers that had returned to the region to start their own businesses, Li enquired if they had benefited from any of the preferential policies designed for businesspeople like them. He also called on local officials to do as much as they could to help the farmers succeed in their business endeavors.

While visiting a hospital in Luoyang City, where patients' medical bills are partly covered by serious illness insurance, Li talked to medical staff and patients, affirming that farmers had just as much right to medical care as urban residents.

After hearing about the success of the insurance program, Li said the initiative will be rolled out across the country this year and it will cover urban and rural residents alike. Endi