Up to 300 million Chinese farmers will move into cities over the
next 20 years, states a recent report issued by the United Nations
Development Program (UNDP).
China is experiencing the world's largest urbanization movement
and fast economic growth is driving the process, says the
report.??
The document, researched by Chinese Academy of Social Sciences,
predicts that by 2010 there'll be about 125 cities in China with a
population of over one million and fifty cities will have in excess
of two million.
Despite fast economic growth since the 1980s the contribution of
Chinese cities to the national economy is lower than in developed
countries. Cities are still growing at breakneck speed but their
production efficiency is low, states the report. What's more the
high population density in Chinese cities creates problems for
sustainable development, it adds.?
City cluster developments should be included in the national
strategy and a system developed to ensure that happens, according
to the report.
China has over 1.3 billion people and more than 800 million are
farmers.
(Xinhua News Agency July 31, 2006)