Stepping Up to Challenges

By YUAN YUAN

Stepping Up to Challenges

By YUAN YUAN

Political advisors say urbanization holds the key to China’s future

“We will actively yet prudentlymove forward with urbanization.We will adhere tothe path of urbanizationwith Chinese characteristics, abide by theprinciples of urban development and fosterthe sound development of urbanization,”said Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in hisgovernment work report delivered at theFourth Session of the 11th National People’sCongress in March.

According to China’s 12th Five-Year Plan on National Social and Economic Development (2011-15), which was endorsed by the 11th National People’s Congress at this year’s session, the urbanization rate of China will increase from the present 47.5 percent to 51.5 percent by 2015.

“Urbanization in China is a tough task since we have such a big rural area and a large rural population,” said Wang Jianlin, member of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese National People’s Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the top advisory body.

Wang, also Vice Chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, said China’s actual urbanization rate was far less than the 47.5-percent level mentioned in the 12th Five-Year Plan.

“This is because about 150 million migrant workers were counted as urban residents in statistics,” said Wang. “China’s actual urbanization rate will stand at around 35 percent after the number of migrant workers is deducted.”

Wang said only after migrant workers had steady jobs in cities and their families became urban residents could China’s urbanization rate reach 45 percent or higher in the next fve years.

“Migrant workers do not have equal access to education, social welfare and other rights that residents with urbanhukou(household registration) status enjoy. China’s large cities are not prepared for accepting migrant workers as urban residents,” Wang said.

Attesting to Wang’s judgment, some mega Chinese cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, have recently put restrictions on migrant population’s purchases of houses and cars as part of their efforts to deal with problems including excessively high housing prices and worsening traffc congestion.

“Against this, I think China’s urbanization must focus on small and medium-sized

“We will actively yet prudently cities, particularly county seats and larger townships,” said Cai Jiming, a CPPCC National Committee member and Director of Tsinghua University’s Center for Political Economy.

“It is easier for migrant workers to stay in smaller cities, which in turn help relieve the burden on large cities. For cities like Beijing and Shanghai, where the population and housing pressure is almost beyond their capacities, the prospect of migrant workers getting the same treatment local residents enjoy is daunting,” he said.

Two-way approach

On March 8, a photo exhibition titledGreat Changes in Towns in Hebei Province Over Three Yearswas held in the Hebei Provincial Museum, showing achievements of the urbanization process in the north China Province.

Statistics from the Hebei Provincial Government show, at the end of 2010, the urbanization rate in Hebei reached 43.74 percent, 1.84 percent higher than that of 2009, and the urban population reached 3.77 million, an increase of 1.49 million year on year.

Hebei is not alone in achieving rapid urbanization. Zhejiang Province in east China, which is more economically developed than Hebei, said on March 1, 2011 that its urbanization rate had reached 59 percent by the end of 2010, and the urban residents accounted for 60 percent of the total population. The percentage will increase to 70 percent at the end of this year.

“China has made undoubtedly signifcant achievements in urbanization,” said Wang.“But, the problems are also very severe. We don’t have a rational plan to make cities more convenient and comfortable for people moving in from the countryside. Besides, we put more efforts into road and housing construction but less into cultural development and social security improvement, especially the insurance system for migrant workers in large cities.”

It is estimated China now has about 170 million migrant workers, and many of them have been living in cities for years.

“Migrant workers have contributed so much to China’s modernization and development, now it is crucial to improve the way they are treated.” said Qian Keming, a CPPCC National Committee member and Director of the Department of Market and Economic Information of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Meanwhile, Qian called for more attention to grain security as more farmers quit farming and instead work in cities. He quoted Premier Wen’s government work report that says “ensuring adequate food for 1.3 billion Chinese people is always a top priority, and we must never treat this issue lightly.”

TAO MING

Qian brought up the idea urbanization should be a two-way process. “We should not only attract rural residents to cities, but also make the countryside attractive to urban residents,” said Qian. “Only in this way can it be a healthy urbanization.”

This strategy was also stressed in Premier Wen’s report.

“We need to fully respect the right of farmers to choose independently whether to seek jobs in cities or stay in their home villages, and genuinely protect their legitimate rights and interests concerning land they contract to work and the land on which their homes sit. Urbanization and agricultural modernization must be mutually reinforcing,” Wen said.

“We don’t have a rational plan to make cities more convenient and comfortable for people moving in from the countryside. Besides, we put more efforts into road and housing construction but less into cultural development and social security improvement.”

—Wang Jianlin, Vice Chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce

Land reform

“With more rural people moving to cities, a lot of houses in rural areas are left empty. Worse still, some rural land has been appropriated by the government for non-farming purposes without paying fair compensation to farmers,” said Wu Yan, a CPPCC National Committee member and President of the People’s Insurance Ltd. Co.

Under China’s laws, rural land is divided into farmland and land for construction use. Farmland is not supposed to be used for commercial purposes. That is intended to protect farmland and to guarantee stable production of food. But many local governments and real estate developers have not used rural land for the public interest, and many villages have been turned into industrial hubs.

“That is illegal and against the country’s policy,” said Li Chenggui, a CPPCC National Committee member and Deputy Director of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Rural Affairs. “It could be attributed to irrational urbanization, but scientific urban planning could save farmland or use it more effciently.”

“The Central Government has launched reforms regarding the existing laws and regulations,” said Li.

With a population of 32 million, Chongqing Municipality in southwest China is reportedly the largest city in the world. But, 95 percent of the area under its jurisdiction is rural, with decades-old wood houses, some still with simple clapboard roofs, dotting the banks of the Yangtze and Jialing rivers running through Chongqing.

CFP

On December 4, 2008, China’s first rural land exchange was established in Chongqing.

A pilot program was launched by the Chongqing Municipal Government in August 2010 to allow farmers to choose whether to keep the farmland that they signed contracts with the government to use, or exchange their contracted land for urban residencies that give them access to employment opportunities, medical care and education enjoyed by city dwellers.

The swap operates as a market platform for the trading of land-use rights or land quotas for construction purposes. An individual villager’s housing land is assessed by the Chongqing Land Resource and Real Estate Management Bureau to calculate an equivalent amount of the arable land, namely the land quota they can exchange in the market. According to the Land Management Law, developers are responsible for offsetting the amount of construction land they use with the same amount of arable land.

In five months since the program has been in operation, 1.45 million Chongqing farmers reportedly registered as urban residents.

“The reforms initiated by Chongqing may represent a new direction for China’s next 30 years of reform,” said Li.

Cai also agrees with Li’s views.

“Chongqing is the only municipality directly administered by the Central Government in west China. The Central Government grants it a unique platform for implementing reform,” he said. “Building up the economy of regions along the upper reaches of the Yangtze River is very important and the most important thing is to do a good job implementing the urban-rural coordinated development plan.”

“It has proven a win-win situation,”said Li, who has been observing the reform in Chongqing. “Interestingly, it is not just people who are moving, but industries and enterprises are being relocated. With more people leaving the countryside, more local enterprises and factories are set up in the places where the farmers originally lived and their rapid growth has attracted investors from other provinces and regions.”