Pursuing Healthy and Sustainable Urbanization

　　China is witnessing a huge surgein urbanization as millions movefrom rural areas to bustling urbancenters. The rapid development ofindustry and urban areas and thewealth that has been accumulated inthe process have laid an importantfoundation for industry to promoteagriculture， and for urban areas tosupport rural development.

　　In addition， a significant risein the urban population has increasedmarket demand foragricultural products， which drivesthe development of agriculturalproduction.

　　While seeing the opportunities ofurbanization， we must be aware ofthe risks that industrialization andurbanization have brought to agricultureand rural areas.

　　In the process of industrializationand urbanization， the economic benefitof industry is significantly higherthan that of agriculture. Under therules of the market， land， capital andlabor which rural areas already lackflow rapidly to industry and urbanareas， especially to big cities.Besides， rapid urbanization hasalso led to declines in arable landarea and the rural labor force aslarge numbers of rural laborersswitch to non-agricultural jobs.

　　Pushing for equal public services

　　To achieve agricultural modernizationand coordinate building newcountryside and urbanization， weshould ensure equal exchange offactors of production between urbanand rural areas and balance allocationof public resources betweenthem. More attention should be paidto issues relating to agriculture， ruralareas and farmers.

　　It‘s the government’s due responsibilityto provide equal basic publicservices to all people. Yet， during along period of time， a dual householdregistration (hukou) systemwas practiced， under which publicservices enjoyed by city dwellerswere provided by the government，while rural residents purely relied onthemselves for these. This has ledto the lack of needed public serviceproducts and facilities in rural areas，especially in the sectors of education，health and medical care， andculture.

　　Therefore， in making plansfor providing public services andgoods， equal consideration shouldbe given to both urban and ruralareas， with more fiscal expenditureand projects arranged for ruralareas. Also， private capital should beencouraged to flow to rural areas forthe development of public servicefacilities in the countryside.

　　At present， we must first solve theproblems of education and healthcare in rural areas， which are themost prominent issues for farmers.Second， we must gradually establisha sound social security system inrural areas， continuously improvethe standards of social security， andgradually realize the integrated urbanand rural development in socialsecurity. Third， we should acceleratethe construction of public infrastructurein rural areas， including roadsand electricity， and the renovationof dilapidated buildings. Fourth， weshould develop rural culture andimprove farmers‘ cultural life， bringmore cultural entertainment such asfilms， dramas and theatrical performancesto the countryside， andsupport the construction of ruralcultural centers and the developmentof farmers’ cultural performancetroupes.

　　To balance urban and rural development，major tasks include carryingout equal social policies， pushing forequal public services in both areas，expanding government funding tothe rural areas and increasing thesupply of public goods in rural areas.As the shortage of public servicesand goods in rural areas has been existingfor long， it will certainly take aconsiderable period of time to realizethe equal distribution of public servicesin both urban and rural areas.

　　Developing county-level economies

　　China had over 260 million migrantworkers by the end of 2012， about afifth of its total population， accordingto the National Bureau of Statistics.It is neither sustainable nor environmentallyfeasible for hundreds

　　of millions of surplus rural laborersto swarm into big provincial capitals.Therefore， developing county-leveleconomies is of significance for realizingurbanization in China.

　　At the Third Plenary Session ofthe 18th Central Committee of theCommunist Party of China， it wasalso proposed that the countrywould pursue a new kind of urbanizationwith Chinese characteristics，and promote the sustainable andcoordinated development of big，medium-sized and small cities aswell as small towns.

　　To develop county-level economies，we need to promote thecoordinated development of primary，secondary and tertiary industrieswithin counties， accelerate thedevelopment of the industrial andservice sectors， so as to increasefarmers‘ incomes and boost ruraldevelopment at the county level.

　　A particularly important issue ofdeveloping county-level economiesis to push forward the industrializedoperation of agriculture. In this way，agricultural investment， technologyand information can be broughtto rural areas， while the agriculturalproducts and rural surpluslaborers can be taken to cities andthe industrial sector， thus closelylinking agricultural production withindustrial production. The productionof agricultural products， to someextent， has become the first workshopon the entire industrial chain，which extends to the agriculturalindustrial chain， improves the addedvalue of agricultural products， andthus improves the overall efficiencyof agriculture and raises the level ofagricultural modernization.

　　Building a new countrysideThe Third Plenum proposed that weshould promote urbanization andbuilding a new countryside in a coordinatedmanner. Therefore， we needto have an overall consideration ofboth areas when making urban andrural planning. Urbanization can helpboost building new countryside ratherthan replacing it. The integratedurban and rural development doesn’tmean urban and rural areas are thesame. New countryside is upgradedcountryside rather than the miniatureof a city. Urban and rural areasshould co-exist in harmony witheach having its own unique features.

　　To push forward building newcountryside， we need to speed upthe planning and construction ofpublic infrastructure， improve publicservices such as water， electricityand gas supply， roads and housing，construct sewage and garbagetreatment facilities， and improve theliving environment in rural areas.In fact， building a new countrysideis also important for cities.

　　Agriculture not only provides peoplewith the necessities of life， but alsoprovides a good ecological environmentfor city dwellers. It would bepitiful if the rural culture disappearsin rapid urbanization.

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