Projects launched to promote integration of urban and rural development

The Xi'an High-tech Industrial Development Zone, one of the top national such zones in Xi’an, Shaanxi province in Northwest China, announced its plan on Sunday to further promote the integration of urban and rural development.

The press conference is held on Sunday. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

According to the plan, the zone will invest 17.8 billion yuan ($2.64 billion) to complete 710 projects within three years.

Focusing on ten aspects closely related to people's quality of life, such as planning, roads, public transportation, education, medical treatment, shopping, culture, neighborhoods, the environment and Party construction, the zone formulated the three-year plan for accelerating the integration of urban and rural development, said Gu Haiwen, deputy director of the zone’s administrative committee.

The zone will accelerate compilation and completion of the Strategic Planning for Rural Revitalization of the High-tech Zone, as well as planning of development of towns and streets, village construction, characteristic towns, beautiful countrysides and urban and rural industrial layout in the zone, with a planned investment of 0.12 billion yuan and 52 start-up projects, Gu said.

In terms of improving the carrying capacity of urban and rural roads, the high-tech zone plans to invest 3.15 billion yuan and start 149 projects, focusing on speeding up the construction and renovation of village-town joint roads and promoting the construction of town-street rural roads in an all-round way.

In promoting integration of urban and rural public transport, it plans to invest 145 million yuan and start 18 projects focused on accelerating the construction of public transport stations and improving urban and rural public transport lines.

It plans to invest 1.67 billion yuan, start 134 projects, accelerate the upgrading of schools, increase investment in education, and complete the high-quality and high-standard transformation of weak schools in towns and streets.

In the field of urban-rural medical integration, the high-tech zone plans to invest 4.55 billion yuan and start 53 projects targeting acceleration of upgrading and transformation of towns (streets), community health centers, rural community old-age care institutions and construction of third-class hospitals, and carrying out the trusteeship and co-operation of medical institutions to build a 15-minute medical service circle.

In addition, Gu said, the high-tech zone plans to invest 4.91 billion yuan, start 40 projects and build a number of convenient and safe shopping centers, as well as invest 1.18 billion yuan and start 46 projects focused on promoting the upgrading and transformation of towns (streets), village comprehensive cultural service centers and squares. The latter improvement will include construction of rural bookstores, cinemas and other cultural projects for local people.

It plans to invest 233 million yuan, start 11 projects, and build a number of characteristic blocks. It plans to invest 1.84 billion yuan and start 173 projects that focus on promoting the construction of waste-sorting treatment facilities and public toilet renovation to solve rural drinking water safety problems.

It also plans to invest 114 million yuan in 34 projects concentrated on the construction of "Beautiful Party Construction" demonstrative villages and standardization of Party organizations at the village level, and will strive to build first-class demonstrative areas for Party construction, the deputy director concluded.