China releases five-year action plan for people-centered new urbanization

China will adopt a five-year action plan on deepening the people-centered new urbanization strategy, according to a State Council circular released on July 31.

The move aims to fully unleash the huge potential of domestic demand generated by the new-type urbanization, continue to promote effective and reasonable growth of the economy, and provide a strong driving force and solid support for Chinese modernization.

According to the circular, the top priority is to move faster to grant permanent urban residency to people who move to cities from rural areas and ensure that all residents share the fruits of modernization.

Through five years of efforts, the percentage of permanent urban residents will be raised to nearly 70 percent, the circular said.

Except in certain megacities, restrictions on household registration are to be relaxed as the reform continues.

At the same time, efforts will be made to improve basic public services to cover all permanent residents, promote the stable employment of people who move to cities from rural areas, guarantee education rights for their children, and put in place a diversified housing supply system with wider coverage of social security.

To improve the urbanization of potential regions, efforts will be made to foster distinctive and advantageous industrial clusters and expand and upgrade industrial parks with strong talent support in place.

Meanwhile, central cities will help drive the development of neighboring cities and counties to form a group of modern metropolitan areas.

To that end, major tasks will be rolled out to improve intercity commuting efficiency, strengthen industrial division and coordination, speed up the construction of an integrated market, and promote shared public services.

City renewal and safety improvements will be conducted to build livable, resilient, and smart cities, the circular said, and work will be done to renovate old neighborhoods, and strengthen urban flood control and management.

While accelerating construction of affordable houses, underground pipelines and other urban lifeline infrastructures will be renovated to remove safety hazards and improve road networks, the circular said.