The United Nations on Thursday reported rapid urbanization in China, which is undergoing a major transformation of its urban structure and witnesses a "rapid increase in the number of cities with sizable population."

The report was contained in the 2009 Revision of World Urbanization Prospects, which was issued on Thursday. It says the urban surge in China reflects economic growth and internal labor movements.

"China alone has 25 percent of the cities with at least half a million inhabitants," said the UN report, compiled by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). DESA is a vital interface between global policies in the economies, social and environmental spheres and national action.

"The country is undergoing a major transformation of its urban structure," the report said, adding that starting in the 1990s, the number of cities in China with at least half a million inhabitants has increased markedly.

"In 1980, China has only 51 cities of that size," the report said. "Between 1980 and 1995, another 51 were added to the group and, between 1995 and 2010, 134 additional cities in China crossed the half a million threshold."

By 2025, China is expected to add another 107 cities to that group, the report said. "This rapid increase in the number of cities with sizable population reflects the rapid urbanization of China, whose proportion urban more than doubled from 1980 to 2010 (rising from 19 percent to 47 percent) and is expected to reach 59 percent in 2025," the report said.

(Xinhua News Agency March 26, 2010)