Category: NEWS & EVENT

China’s rapid economic growth is the result of the combination of the world’s economic landscape shift and the huge potential unleashed by China’s reform and opening up. The Pearl River Delta, the Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Megalopolis have become the driving force for China’s economic development, as well as China’s most international and typical megalopolises. The three megalopolises play a key role against the backdrop of the China-U.S. trade frictions and China’s economic restructure.

Cloud River Urban Research Institute, a leading think tank for city planning, draws on the 12 sets of data released by the China Integrated City Index 2018 to analyze the performance of the three megalopolises.

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1. GDP

The three megalopolises carry increased weight to China’s economy, as they account for 8.6%, 19.8% and 9.0% of the national GDP, respectively, which means 37.4% combined. The three megalopolises are obviously the pillar of China’s economy.

The performance of the three major megalopolises can be measured by observing the top 30 cities among the nation’s 298 cities at prefecture level and above in terms of GDP.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Megalopolis has two cities whose GDP features in the top 30–Beijing in second place, and Tianjin in sixth.

The Pearl River Delta Megalopolis has nine cities whose GDP making the top 30, including Shanghai in first place, Suzhou in seventh, Hangzhou in 10th, Nanjing in 11th, Wuxi in 13th, Ningbo in 15h, Nantong in 19th, Hefei in 25th, Changzhou in 28th.

The Pearl River Delta Megalopolis has four cities whose GDP ranked in the top 30. They are Shenzhen in third, Guangzhou in fourth, Foshan in 17th and Dongguan in 21st.

The three megalopolises dominate the rankings with 15 in the top 30.

2. DID Population

Population density is crucial to city issues. The China City Integrated Development Index uses the index of DID (Densely Inhabited District) – districts with a population density of more than 5,000 inhabitants per square kilometer, to analyze population density.

The three megalopolises account for 34.4% of the country’s total DID population. The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Megalopolis accounts for 7.9% of the national DID population, the Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis 17.1%, and the Pearl River Delta Megalopolis 9.3%.

The performance of the three major megalopolises can be measured through observing the top 30 cities among the nation’s 298 cities at prefecture level and above in terms of DID population. The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Megalopolis has two cities ranked in the top 30–Beijing in second, and Tianjin in fifth.

The Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis has seven cities whose DID ranked in the top 30. They are Shanghai in first, Suzhou in 11th, Hangzhou 13th, Nanjing in 14th, Ningbo in 20th, Hefei in 25th, and Wuxi in 28th.

The Pearl River Delta Megalopolis has four cities whose DID population ranked in the top 30. They are Guangzhou in third, Shenzhen in fourth, Dongguan in ninth, and Foshan in 15th.

There are a total of 13 cities in the three megalopolises making the list of the top 30 cities with largest DID population. However, DID population ratios vary among the three megalopolises, with the Pearl River Delta Megalopolis at 67%, much higher than the national average of 31.9%, the Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis 46.6%, while the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Megalopolis only 37.8%.

3. Companies Listed on Main Boards

The three megalopolises are home to more than half of the companies listed on the main boards in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong, with the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Megalopolis accounting for 15.9%, the Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis 28%, and the Pearl River Delta Megalopolis 10.3%, meaning 54.2% combined.

The three major megalopolises can be gauged by the performance of the top 30 cities among the nation’s 298 cities at prefecture level and above in terms of the number of companies listed on the main boards.

The Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis has seven cities in the top 30 cities with the most companies listed on the main boards. They are Shanghai in first place, Nanjing and Hangzhou in forth, Ningbo in ninth, Hefei in 13th, Suzhou in 21st, and Wuxi in 24th.

The Pearl River Delta Megalopolis has only two cities in the top 30, including Shenzhen in third place, Guangzhou in seventh. The megalopolis’s Dongguan and Foshan, who are well known for manufacturing, are still powered by the “factory economy.”

The three megalopolises have 11 cities making it to the list of the top 30 cities with the most companies listed on the main boards. In particular, Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen together are home to 31.3% of the country’s main-board-listed companies.

4. Chinese Enterprises in Fortune 500

The three megalopolises are home to 80% of the country’s Chinese enterprises entering the Fortune Global 500 list, with the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Megalopolis 54.3%, the Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis 14.3%, and the Pearl River Delta Megalopolis 11.4%.

The performance of the three regions can be measured by observing the top 30 cities among China’s 298 cities at prefecture level and above in terms of the number of Chinese companies on the Fortune Global 500 list.

Three cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Megalopolis make the top 30, including Beijing coming first, and Tianjin and Shijiazhuang in 11th.

Four cities in the Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis make it into the top 30, including Shanghai in second place, Hangzhou in fourth, and Nanjing and Suzhou in seventh.

The Pearl River Delta Megalopolis has three cities in the top 30, including Shenzhen in third, Guangzhou in fourth, and Foshan in seventh.

The three regions have a total of 10 cities making the top 30. Beijing tops the list, as it has 52.4% of Fortune 500 Chinese companies.

5. Manufacturing Radiation

The three major megalopolises account for 67.8% of China’s exports in goods, with the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Megalopolis making up 6.2%, the Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis 32.7%, and the Pearl River Delta Megalopolis 28.8%. The three megalopolises, especially the Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis and the Pearl River Delta, serve as a powerhouse of China’s export, and are dubbed the “factory of the world.”

Radiation is the index used to measure to what extent a city’s certain function can be leveraged by others.

The China City Integrated Development Index draws on the radiation index to accurately and effectively analyze service capabilities of a city’s industries.

The performance of the three major megalopolises can be gauged through observing the top 30 cities among the nation’s 298 cities at prefecture level and above in terms of the number of Chinese companies making the Fortune Global 500 list.

Eleven cities in the Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis make it into the top 30，including Shanghai in second place, Suzhou in fourth, Ningbo in seventh, Hangzhou in ninth, Wuxi in 14th, Jiaxing in 20th, Nanjing in 21st, Jinhua in 23rd, Shaoxing in 24th, Changzhou in 26th, and Nantong in 29th.

Eight cities in the Pearl River Delta Megalopolis make it into the top 30, including Shenzhen in first place, Dongguan in third, Foshan in fifth, Guangzhou in sixth, Huizhou in 11th, Zhongshan in 13th, Zhuhai in 19th, and Jiangmen in 30th.

Twenty-one cities in the three regions make the top 30. From 2000 to 2018, China’s exports increased by tenfold to become the biggest exporter in the world. The three megalopolises have proven to be the biggest winner in the explosion of communication economy created by the global expansion of the manufacturing supplier chain.

6.  IT Industry Radiation

The three megalopolises house 71.8% of China’s IT companies listed on the main boards, and 50.7% of China’s IT workers.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Megalopolis accounts for 32.5% of the national IT companies listed on the main boards, the Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis 24.8%, and the Pearl River Delta Megalopolis 14.5%.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Megalopolis accounts for 20.9% of the nation’s IT workers, the Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis 19.5%, and the Pearl River Delta Megalopolis 10.2%.

The performance of the three megalopolises can be measured by the top 30 cities among the nation’s 298 cities at prefecture level and above in terms of the IT industry radiation.

Beijing in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Megalopolis takes the first spot in the top 30 cities.

Six cities in the Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis make it into the top 30, including Shanghai in second, Hangzhou in fifth, Nanjing in sixth, Suzhou in 15th, Hefei in 21st, and Wuxi in 24th.

Three cities in the Pearl River Delta Megalopolis make the top 30, including Shenzhen in third, Guangzhou in seventh, and Zhuhai in 20th.

The three megalopolises have 10 cities in the top 30. It is noteworthy that many cities with strong manufacturing radiation fail to make it into the top 30 cities with strongest IT industry radiation.

7.  Higher Education Radiation

The three major megalopolises are home to 51.6% of the country’s top universities, and 28.2% of the students attending universities and colleges.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Megalopolis is home to 26.8% of the nation’s top universities, the Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis 20.9%, and the Pearl River Delta Megalopolis 3.9%.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Megalopolis has 8.3% of the nation’s students attending universities and colleges, the Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis 14.0% and the Pearl River Delta Megalopolis 5.9%.

The performance of the three megalopolises can be measured by observing the top 30 cities among China’s 298 cities at prefecture and above in terms of the radiaiton of higher education.

The Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis has five cities in the top 30, including Shanghai in second place, Nanjing in fourth, Hefei in 12th, Hangzhou in 14th, and Suzhou in 30th.

The Pearl River Delta Megalopolis only has Guangzhou in the top 30.

The three megalopolises have nine cities in the top 30. The Pearl River Delta Megalopolis has relatively weak radiaiton of higher education.

8. Science and Technology Radiation

The three megalopolises have 53.3% of the country’s R&D human resources, and 55.6% of the country’s patent licenses.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Megalopolis makes up 12.2% of the national R&D human resources, the Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis 28.5%, and the Pearl River Delta Megalopolis 12.7%.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Megalopolis makes up 10.3% of the national patent licenses, the Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis 30.9%, and the Pearl River Delta Megalopolis 14.4%.

The performance of the three megalopolises can be gauged by observing the top 30 cities among the nation’s 298 cities at prefecture level and above in terms of the radiation of science and technology.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Megalopolis has two cities making it into the top 30, including Beijing in first place, and Tianjin in eighth.

The Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis has 11 cities in the top 30, including Shanghai in second place, Hangzhou in sixth, Suzhou in ninth, Nanjing in 10th, Ningbo in 12th, Wuxi in 14th, Hefei in 17th, Shaoxing in 20th, Nantong in 21st, Jiaxing in 27th, and Changzhou in 30th.

The Pearl River Delta Megalopolis has five cities in the top 30, including Shenzhen in third place, Guangzhou in fifth, Foshan in 16th, Dongguan in 18th, and Zhongshan in 24th.

A total of 18 cities in the three megalopolises make the top 30.

9. Culture, Sports and Entertainment Radiation

The three megalopolises account for 45.9% of the national box office, and 43.3% of nation’s movie and theater attendance.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Megalopolis accounts for 9.6% of the national box office, the Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis 23.6%, and the Pearl River Delta Megalopolis 12.8%.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Megalopolis accounts for 8.5% of the national movie and theater attendance, the Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis 22.8%, and the Pearl River Delta Megalopolis 11.9%.

The performance of the three megalopolises can be gauged by observing the top 30 cities among the nation’s cities at prefecture level and above in terms of the radiation of culture, sports and entertainment.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Megalopolis has two cities in the top 30, including Beijing in first place, and Tianjin in 13th.

The Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis has 11 cities in the top 30, including Shanghai in second place, Hangzhou in seventh, Nanjing in eighth, Suzhou in 14th, Hefei in 17th, Ningbo in 25th, and Wuxi in 26th.

The Pearl River Delta Megalopolis has four cities in the top 30, including Guangzhou in fourth, Shenzhen in fifth, Dongguan in 20th, and Foshan in 23rd.

The three megalopolises have 13 cities in the top 30.

10.  Catering and Hotel Radiation

The three megalopolises are home to China’s 51.7% five-star hotels and 72.9% of China’s top-notch restaurants.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Megalopolis has 11.4% of the country’s five-star hotels, the Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis 29.5%, and the Pearl River Delta Megalopolis 10.9%.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Megalopolis has 20.0% of the country’s top-notch restaurants, the Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis 37.5%, and the Pearl River Delta Megalopolis 15.4%.

The performance of the three megalopolises can be gauged by observing the top 30 cities among the nation’s cities at prefecture level and above in terms of the catering and hotel radiation.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Megalopolis has two cities in the top 30, including Beijing in second place, and Tianjin in 16th.

The Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis has eight cities in the top 30, including Shanghai in first place, Hangzhou in sixth, Suzhou in seventh, Nanjing in 11th, Ningbo in 14th, Zhoushan in 18th, Wuxi in 26th, and Hefei in 29th.

The Pearl River Delta Megalopolis has four cities in the top 30, including Guangzhou in fourth, Shenzhen in fifth, Zhuhai in 20th, and Dongguan in 27th.

A total of 14 cities in the three megalopolises make the top 30.

11.  Convenience of Container Port

The three megalopolises account for 69.5% of the country’s total container throughput, with the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Megalopolis 8.3%, the Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis 35.2% and the Pearl River Delta Megalopolis 26%, respectively.

The performance of the three megalopolises can be gauged by observing the top 30 cities among the nation’s cities at prefecture level and above in terms of port convenience.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Megalopolis has two cities in the top 30, including Tianjin in sixth place, and Tangshan in 28th.

The Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis dominates the rankings with 11 cities in the top 30, including Shanghai in first place, Ningbo in third, Suzhou in ninth, Zhoushan in 12th, Nanjing in 15th, Nantong in 17th, Jiaxing in 20th, Wuxi in 23rd, Huzhou in 26th, Changzhou in 29th, and Shaoxing in 30th.

The Pearl River Delta Megalopolis has eight cities in the top 30, including Shenzhen in second place, Guangzhou in fourth, Dongguan in 13th, Foshan in 14th, Zhongshan in 18th, Zhuhai in 21st, Jiangmen in 25th, and Huizhou in 27th.

It turns out that the three megalopolises have 21 of the top 30 cities by container port convenience that bolster the development of the three megalopolises, especially the development of manufacturing.

12. Airport Convenience

The three megalopolises account for 41.5% of the country’s passenger throughput, and 67.8% of the country’s cargo traffic.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Megalopolis accounts for 11.9% of the country’s passenger throughput, the Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis 18.7% and the Pearl River Delta Megalopolis 10.9%.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Megalopolis accounts for 14.7% of the country’s cargo traffic, the Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis 34.6% and the Pearl River Delta Megalopolis 18.5%.

The performance of the three megalopolises can be measured by observing the top 30 cities among the nation’s 298 cities at prefecture level and above in terms of airport convenience.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Megalopolis has three cities that make it into the list of the top 30 cities with the most airport convenience–Shanghai ranked first, Hangzhou ranked eighth, and Nanjing ranked 12th.

The Pearl River Delta Megalopolis has three cities in the top 30 cities with the most airport convenience–Guangzhou ranked third, Shenzhen ranked fourth, and Zhuhai ranked 27th.

Eight cities in the three megalopoliss make it into the top 30. In particular, the international aviation hubs in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen make the three megalopolises the areas best served by air transport, and bolster the communication economy for megalopolises.

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Cities in the three megalopolises

Ten cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Megalopolis: Beijing, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang, Baoding, Tangshan, Qinghuangdao,

Twenty-six cities in the Yangtze River Delta: Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Hefei, Wuxi, Ningbo, Changzhou, Jiaxing, Nantong, Yancheng, Yangzhou, Zhengjiang, Taizhou, Huzhou, Shaoxing, Jinhua, Zhoushan, Taizhou, Wuhu, Maanshan, Tongling, Anqing, Chuzhou, Chizhou, Xuancheng.

Nine cities in the Pearl-River Delta: Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Foshan, Zhuhai, Zhongshan, Jiangmen, Huizhou, Zhaoqing.

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english.scio.gov.cn丨Updated: January 6, 2020

Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen are ranked first, second, and third in the “China Integrated City Index 2018” released Thursday at a symposium in Beijing.

The index was compiled by the National Development and Reform Commission’s development planning department and Cloud River Research Institute, who jointly hosted the symposium.

The index evaluates 298 Chinese cities in terms of their society, economy, and environment, while establishing a set of quantitative standards and references for the urbanization and development of Chinese cities.

This year’s report focuses on the theme of “metropolitan area and development strategies.”

On rankings, Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen are followed by Guangzhou, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Chongqing, Chengdu, Nanjing, and Wuhan to round up the top 10.

In the environment category, Shenzhen, Sanya and Haikou take the first three positions, followed by Pu’er, Beijing, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Fuzhou and Chongqing. 

In the society category, Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou are the top three followed by Hangzhou, Tianjin, Chongqing, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Wuhan and Nanjing. 

In terms of the economy index, Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen are the top three cities, followed by Guangzhou, Tianjin, Suzhou, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Chongqing and Wuhan. 

“Based on indexes of all categories, we can observe a clear evidence of the concentration of functions in big cities as well as the polarization between cities,” said Zhou Muzhi, head of Cloud River Research Institute and the index expert group. 

For instance, the top 30 cities account for 42.5 percent of the nation’s total GDP, 74.9 percent of the manufacturing export, 92.8 percent of universities listed in Project 211 and Project 985, and 50.2 percent of Tier 3A hospitals. 

As to the number of listed companies on the main board, enterprises from the top 30 cities account for 69.7 percent, among which 39.6 percent are located in the top three cities. 

Meanwhile, airports in the top 30 cities have received a large number of visitors, making up 81.3 percent of the total, while container ports in the top 30 have contributed to up to 97.8 percent of the nation’s total throughput. 

A major feature of the report is the introduction of the concept of densely inhabited district (DID). The report defines a district with a population density of 5,000 or more per square kilometer as a DID, and it analyzes the relationship between the DID population and key indicators. It found that the DID population is highly correlated with the vitality and quality of urban development. 

Zhou said China has overemphasized the pressure on the urban environment and infrastructure brought by population size and density without realizing that high-density population is an important foundation of urban development. 

He said China must discard such a misconception, promote intelligent urban governance and enhance the vitality and quality of the development through improving DID quality and scale.

“The real economic development of China has only started since the beginning of the 21st century,” Zhou said. “There are two main driving forces for China’s economic development. One is international trade after it joined the WTO and the other is urbanization.”

The report analyzes key indicators of urbanization in China from 2000 to 2016, showing that during this period, China’s GDP increased by 330 percent and the urban area expanded 180 percent, whereas the population in DID only increased 20 percent. 

“It is more of the urbanization in land than urbanization in population,” Zhou said. 

During this period, the energy consumption per unit of GDP fell by 40 percent, and the carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP fell by 30 percent. However, the energy consumption per capita rose sharply. For example, the electricity consumption per capita increased 330 percent, leading to an increase of 210 percent in the total amount of carbon dioxide emissions and making China the world’s largest carbon dioxide emitter. 

Zhou said he believes China has an urgent need to improve the quality of economic development and urban construction. 

The report also compares two major metropolitan areas of East Asia — the Beijing metropolitan area (Beijing and its suburbs) and the Tokyo metropolitan area (Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba) in terms of population, GDP, carbon dioxide emissions, and PM2.5 levels. 

According to the report, while the Beijing metropolitan area is 1.2 times the size of the Tokyo metropolitan area, its permanent population and DID population are only about 60 percent of the Tokyo metropolitan area. 

Beijing’s GDP is only 30 percent of the Tokyo metropolitan area, and its GDP per capita is only half that of the Tokyo metropolitan area. However, Beijing’s energy consumption per unit of GDP is 7.4 times that of the Tokyo metropolitan area, and Beijing’s carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP are 4.7 times that of Tokyo’s. 

As a result, despite a much smaller population and GDP, Beijing’s carbon dioxide emissions are 1.2 times that of the Tokyo metropolitan area.

“Beijing needs to implement the metropolitan area development strategies, optimize the urban DID spatial structure as well as the economic structure, improve the lifestyle, and enhance the resource utilization efficiency,” Zhou said.

Zhao Qizheng, former director of the State Council Information Office and the first director of the Pudong New Area Management Committee, spoke highly of the index and said he believes the index provides new ideas, discourses, and frameworks for understanding and governing a city. 

Yang Weimin, chief expert of the index expert group, said he believes the three-dimensional view of cities reflects a well-balanced conception and provides guidance for a more comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development of cities. 

“The report is not only an evaluation, but also a direction for progress,” Yang said.

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The article was first published on China SCIO, China.org.cn on Dec 29, 2019 and reprinted by other news websites.

Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen are the top three cities in a recently released comprehensive ranking of Chinese cities, the “China Core Cities & Metropolitan Area Development Index 2018.”

The index, which analyzes and evaluates 298 cities at the prefecture level and above, was compiled by Cloud River Urban Research Institute, a think tank specializing in urbanization research.

 

The index assesses China’s 36 core cities, including four municipalities, 22 provincial capitals, five capitals of autonomous regions, and five cities specially designated by China as core cities.

 

Statistics show that the 36 core cities contributed to 39.7% of the national GDP, 55.2% of national exports in goods, and 48.7% of authorized patents. The 36 cities also have 25% of China’s population, 71.6% of companies listed on the main board, 94.8% of China’s top universities, 58.1% of its five-star hotels, and 54.1% of its top hospitals.

 

The index comprises 10 major indexes and 30 sub-indexes based on the city’s status, metropolitan area power, wide-area hub, opening and communications, business environment, innovation and entrepreneurship, ecological resources and environment, life quality, and culture and education. The index aims to give a holistic evaluation of China’s central cities in terms of their capabilities in developing metropolitan area.

 

Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou take the first three spots in the index measuring a city’s administrative functions, regional influence, and the standing in the Belt and Road Initiative, followed by Tianjin, Chongqing, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Shenzhen, and Wuhan.

According to the sub-index of administrative functions, the national capital, municipalities, and provincial capitals have fared well. In evaluating regional influence, cities located in the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta, and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region have higher scores.

Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen lead another major index of metropolitan areas, followed by Guangzhou, Tianjin, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Chengdu and Nanjing. Sub-indexes in this category include economic scale (headed by China’s four municipalities), business agglomeration (led by Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen), and metropolitan area quality (with Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Beijing at the top).

 

Under a third major index of business environment, Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou take the top three spots, followed by Shenzhen and Wuhan in the fourth and tenth positions, respectively. Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Xiamen rank at the top under the sub-index of industrial park support. Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou take the first three positions under the sub-indexes of business support and urban transportation.

 

China.org.cn, August 19, 2019

 

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Metropolitan areas could be the next driving force of China’s urbanization. The country’s top regulator and political advisers are drawing up new blueprints that are concentrated in some second-tier cities in the central and western regions.

China will focus on developing five metropolitan areas with the cities of Taiyuan, Guiyang, Lanzhou, Kunming and Yinchuan, said Yang Weimin, vice-chairman of the Economic Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference National Committee and a member of the Standing Committee of the CPPCC National Committee.

Yang, who is also the former deputy head of the Office of the Central Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs, outlined the concept of “high-quality urbanization” – a balanced development of economy, people, resources and the environment.

“In China, a key factor that constrains cities’ development is resources and environment, and the essence of (the) housing problem is how to balance development between people and nature,” Yang said at a recent seminar jointly held by the China internet Information Center and the Cloud River Urban Research Institute.

He also highlighted further reforms in the housing system, especially changing the real estate tax system and building a special policy bank for housing.

The government has finished plans for 19 city clusters, each of which is composed of several metropolitan areas containing the most important elements to accelerate and rebalance urban development, Zhou Nan, deputy head of the development and planning department of the National Development and Reform Commission, told China Daily.

The old-style urbanization relied on industrialization and heavy industry to expand and produce strong growth in some regions, such as the three provinces in northeastern China, along with massive infrastructure and property investment.

Problems, however, rose during the urbanization process such as over-investment in unprofitable enterprises, a high debt burden for local governments and environmental pollution.

In addition, as China’s economy is facing slowdown risks amid increasing external headwinds, some cities which relied too much on heavy industry are shrinking when young people move out of those areas to look for new jobs.

Those issues became a bottleneck which constrained the world’s second largest economy as it transitioned into a high-income country, according to some economists.

Experts and officials are learning experiences from some successful cases for urbanization, such as the Pudong New Area in Shanghai, which grew from a wasteland into a modern international economic and financial center.

Zhao Qizheng, former minister of the State Council Information Office of China and a leading official in the building of Shanghai’s Pudong New Area, said that international-standard development plans and opening to global investment contributed to Pudong’s rapid development.

“Pudong has also boosted the development of Shanghai and the overall Yangtze River Delta area,” said Zhao.

Following those successful cases, this will be a significant year for the new-style of urbanization in China in a shift toward a high-quality development model, Meng Wei, a spokeswoman for the NDRC, said at a news conference on Monday.

Designing the city cluster and metropolitan area development plans to coordinate growth of multiple-sized cities and towns is one of the four key tasks for the transition in urbanization. Other tasks include a relaxation of restrictions on the household registration system especially for migrants from rural areas, and freeing the flow of resources including land, capital and labor force, between urban and rural areas, Meng explained.

Zhou Muzhi, head of the Cloud River Urban Research Institute, said part of the plan to bolster metropolitan areas is to improve the Densely Inhabited District – an index that indicates districts with a population density of more than 5,000 inhabitants per square kilometer.

This means raising the population density in key metropolitan areas and “the urbanization of population” should not lag far behind “the urbanization of infrastructure construction paved by steel and concrete,” he said.

A report by the institute said a stronger connection between the central large cities and the surrounding medium and small-sized cities can improve the capacity of metropolitan areas, especially in boosting the cities’ function as international exchange centers.

Senior NDRC official Zhou Nan said that well-developed metropolitan areas should be based on a mechanism which allows cities to share public services and protect the environment together.

Infrastructure systems, especially the unified transportation network, will be the priority for building the metropolitan areas. It also requires coordinated industrial development. The government could play a role in guiding population migration toward large city clusters, attracting immigrants through high-quality public services and social security, she added.

 

By Chen Jia | China Daily | Updated: June 20, 2019

 

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Chinese policymakers wish to bring more people into cities, to accelerate the second phase of the national urbanization campaign under the “2020 goal”, which will be a key driver of the economic growth in the long term, according to experts.

Different from the first phase, which progressed rapidly between 2000 and 2016, the upgraded urbanization model will focus on people, as well as the balance between the environment and the economy. Large urban clusters will also play crucial roles in accelerating the transformation, Zhou Muzhi, head of Cloud River Urban Research Institute, a leading think tank for city planning, told China Daily in an interview.

“Developing metropolitan areas will support the urbanization process, which requires cities to further open up, and shift their functions from manufacturing-oriented development to high-quality services. Some key areas include information technology and the knowledge-based economy,” he said.

On Monday, the National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s top economic regulator, issued a comprehensive plan to reduce restrictions on people accessing cities, a method to speed up the urbanization process.

It announced the removal of restrictions for people not born locally to get household registration permits in cities with populations of 1 to 3 million. Experts expected that will encourage more migration to cities. That will help China lift its urbanization rate to higher than 60.9 percent by the end of the year, a step to achieving the goal of bringing 100 million people into the nation’s cities from 2016 to 2020.

Policymakers are aware of the importance of people, which is in line with Cloud River’s study that population density is important to facilitate high-quality urban clusters, according to Zhou, who called for more attention to be paid to the positive effects of high population density.

But urban clusters need to shift their key functions, to attract skilled workers and develop modern services, he added. For example, cities need to strengthen the influence of service industries, they need to further open the market to foreign investors, build more airports, and increase the number of high-end hotels and restaurants.

“We call it the communication economy, which is different from the traditional trading economy based on manufacturing production and transactions of goods,” he said.

Yang Weimin, former deputy head of the Office of the Central Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs, said at a forum in March that the “new type of urbanization” should be sustainable, which needs to balance economic growth with the development of people. “That is the key issue of high-quality development.”

From 2000 to 2016, China’s urban area expanded by 2.8 times, while GDP rose by almost 4.3 times, according to Zhou, who is also a professor of economics at Tokyo Keizai University.

In the meantime, the index of Densely Inhabited District (DID) – districts with a population density of more than 5,000 inhabitants per square kilometer, only increased 1.2 times, much slower than the changes in the other indices, according to Zhou’s research.

“That’s a big problem,” he said. “It reflects that the ‘urbanization of population’ is lagging far behind the urbanization of infrastructure construction paved by steel and concrete.”

The concept of DID was first introduced by Cloud River Urban Research Institute in 2016. The index can reflect the trend of centralized and clustered urban development in China.

Together with the NDRC development planning department, the Cloud River Urban Research Institute has also conducted research and issued reports on the China Integrated City Index for three consecutive years since 2016.

In the report of the China Integrated City Index 2018, it showed that population density has a strong positive correlation with socioeconomic development, although it can have some negative effects on an area’s environmental quality and ecosystem.

DID population is closely related to the vitality and quality of urban development, and the key is to improve a city’s “intelligence”, or the educational level of its residents, according to the report.

To accelerate urbanization, financial measures will support the development of key urban development projects, strengthen infrastructure construction and promote investment. That will include boosting bank lending and the launch of real estate investment trusts (REITs), according to the NDRC.

The top planner is also determined to promote metropolitan area development. “We will explore and build the mechanism for promoting and coordinating metropolitan area development leading by core cities,” said a statement released on its website.

 

 

By Chen Jia | China Daily | Updated: April 10, 2019

 

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The Comprehensive Development Index of China’s Cities, jointly compiled by the Department of Development Planning of the National Development and Reform Commission and Cloud River Urban Research Institute, an international think tank, was issued by Japan’s NTT Publishing Co Ltd. and officially released in Japan.

Elites from China and Japan gathered in Tokyo to hold a seminar on the evening of July 19, commemorating the index officially landing in Japan. They also conducted a discussion on the importance of the index for China’s urban development and Sino-Japanese exchanges.

 

The Comprehensive Development Index of China’s Cities was developed by Zhou Muzhi, dean of Yunhe Metropolitan Research Institute and a professor at Tokyo Keizai University, and Xu Lin, Director of the China Center for Urban Development. Yang Weimin, former deputy director of the Central Financial and Economic Leading Group Office, served as the chief expert.

The index evaluates the sustainable development of cities from three dimensions – environment, society and economy. The data cover 295 prefecture-level cities and above. Natural ecology, environmental quality, the spatial structure, quality of life, inheritance and communication, social governance, economic quality, development vitality, and urban impact are nine secondary items. Also, there are 27 small items with pyramid structure. It fully quantified and visually analyzed complex city conditions.

 

Yang Weimin, a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, said in a written speech that the publication of the Japanese version of the index is a major event in academic research in the field of urbanization. He pointed out that the index observed China’s urbanization from the three dimensions of environment, society and economy, which are important for understanding and summarizing the results and costs in the process, and exploring the road to urbanization in China and the world in the future.

The publication of the Japanese version will provide a way for more Japanese people to understand China’s urbanization and to understand China’s development in recent decades, he added.

The Comprehensive Development Index of China’s Cities is the first comprehensive development evaluation index issued by China and recognized by the global community. It is authoritative, comprehensive and operational.

 

 

chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2018-07-23

 

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A seminar on China Integrated City Index 2016, with its theme of Big Pattern, Big Data and Big Analytics, was held in Beijing on Dec. 27, attracting experts from home and abroad to meet here to work out ways for China’s new-type of urbanization.

China Integrated City Index 2016, a book issued by the People’s Publishing House on Nov. 28, was jointly compiled by the Cloud River Urban Research Institute and the Department of Development Planning of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). Based on the new vision of development, China Integrated City Index, the first authoritative, comprehensive and practical study of its kind, aims to analyze and evaluate the sustainable development of Chinese cities with indicators.

Tuesday’s seminar, with focus on this recently-published book, provides a platform for experts and scholars to explore ways for China’s urbanization in the future, including how to develop Chinese cities with big data and pursue high-quality urban development.

Xu Lin, director of the Department of Development Planning of the NDRC, Hu Cunzhi, former vice minister of land and resources, Du Ping, executive vice director of the State Information Center of China, Zhou Qiren, professor of the National School of Development at Peking University, and Zhou Muzhi, professor of Tokyo Keizai University delivered speeches respectively at the seminar, making interpretations and suggestions for human-centered urbanization advocated by the Central Economic Work Conference held earlier this month.

As one of the two lead authors of China Integrated City Index 2016, Professor Zhou Muzhi elaborated on the significance and characteristics of the book during his speech, and demonstrated how to use it to make analysis on Chinese cities from the multidimensional perspective.

“This book is expected to help Chinese cities improve the ability to hold their current conditions, learn advanced experience and ideas, and draw up a development strategy and overall plan, hence making contributions to the improvement of their vitality, charm and competence,” Zhou said.

Based on the analysis in the book, seminar participants also held further discussions on the development of urbanization from the perspective of the environment and population density, giving advice on how to build safe, ecological and low-carbon urban society.

The seminar was co-hosted by the Department of Development Planning of the NDRC, Xinhuanet, the People’s Publishing House and the Cloud River Urban Research Institute.

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The article was published on China Net on Dec 30, 2016, and was republished by foreign media, as well as today’s headlines and other platforms.

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With a sustainable and balanced growth pattern, Beijing outstripped its closest economic competitor Shanghai to rank at the top of 295 cities nationwide, in a rating from the nation’s top economic regulator.

The capital’s No 1 position is based on economic growth, social development and environment in the China Integrated City Index, co-compiled by the National Development and Reform Commission and Cloud River Urban Research Institute and released last week.

Shenzhen, which ranked top in the environment category, was No 3 overall in the index, following Beijing and Shanghai.

Zhou Muzhi, a professor of urban planning at Tokyo Keizai University and one of lead authors of the study, said that openness and cultural legacy help Beijing stand out from other outstanding economic performers.

“But Beijing needs to make a lot more efforts to improve its environmental situation if it wants to keep its top ranking,” said Zhou, adding that surrounding regions need to improve pollution control, especially Hebei province, which relies heavily on natural resources.

“Coal-fired plants located only several hours drive from Beijing remain a major regional source of polluted air in the capital,” he said.

Ultimately, only cities with sustainable growth patterns will be able to attract and retain residents, Zhou said, noting that cities located in China’s three major urban clusters – the Yangtze River Delta, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the Pearl River Delta – currently attract huge population inflows.

Seventeen of the top 30 cities where immigrants exceed permanent residents are located in one of those three clusters, the study showed.

Zhang Xueliang, an economics professor at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, said future city development is able to take advantage of resources provided by the dominant city in these clusters.

Hebei has challenges to overcome with its heavy industries, but it might face fewer difficulties than other provinces – for example in Northeast China, which grapples with overcapacity – by integrating resources from the capital and taking advantage of convenient waterways in Tianjin, which has the largest artificial harbor in north China, Zhang said.

As for the rust belt Northeast, Xue Lan, dean of the School of Public Policy and Management at Tsinghua University, said the major problem for the old industrial bases is that local officials may sacrifice economic transformation and continue to support industrial overcapacity to maintain short-term growth.

“It could even be possible for the Northeast to exchange a slowdown in short-term growth for healthy development in the long-run,” Xue said. “More soft infrastructure investment, say, in education, may be more helpful for the region to retain talented people.”

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The article was published on China net on Dec 5, 2016, and was republished by foreign media.

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Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen top the city rankings based on economic, social and environmental dimensions, followed by Guangzhou, Tianjin, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Chongqing, Nanjing and Wuhan, according to China Integrated City Index 2016, issued by the People’s Publishing House on Nov. 28.

Specifically, Beijing surpasses Shanghai in the social dimension — inheritance and exchanges in particular, while Shanghai is superior to Beijing in the economic and environmental dimensions.

From the environmental point of view, Shenzhen ranks first and Guangzhou outperforms Tianjin. The five cities of Suzhou, Hangzhou, Chongqing, Nanjing and Wuhan receive relatively lower environmental rankings, although they account for five of the top 10 cities in the social and economic rankings. Suzhou, despite the best environmental performance among the five cities, ranks only twentieth.

According to the report, cities with higher overall rankings often perform badly in the environmental dimension.

Zhou Muzhi, a professor at Tokyo Keizai University and head of the expert panel for China Integrated City Index, explained that the Index included the environment as one of the three dimensions in line with the implementation of the National New-Type Urbanization Plan (2014-2020) and put into practice the idea of integrating ecological civilization into the process of urbanization.

Evaluating a city from the “green” perspective in an all-around way is a guide for value orientation, he said.

China Integrated City Index, the first authoritative, comprehensive and practical study of its kind, aims to analyze and evaluate the sustainable development of Chinese cities with indicators. Based on an advanced idea, it uses quantitative and visual means to set indicators, collect data, analyze it and make an evaluation.

Firstly, the index system is composed of three dimensions, namely society, economy and the environment. Each dimension has three second-level indicators, and each second-level indicator includes three third-level indicators. All together, these 27 indicators are supported by 133 specific ones, hence forming a simple and clear pyramid structure. Based on this structure, quantitative and visual analysis is carried out to make clear complex urban conditions.

Secondly, the data used in this study encompasses statistics from governments at various levels, big data from the internet and satellite remote sensing data. The study covers all 295 Chinese mainland cities at the prefecture level and above.

Thirdly, the evaluation method introduces the concept of “deviation value,” which is a common international practice. Huge, complex data were converted to comparable index data, and evaluation was made according to indicators at each level, giving a faithful and informative description of a city’s development.

China Integrated City Index will be published annually, Zhou said. This year’s report was jointly compiled by the Cloud River Urban Research Institute and the Department of Development Planning of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). It will provide an advanced cognitive orientation for values, a scientific index evaluation system and a digital tool for policy management, hence pushing forward transformation during China’s urbanization.

“It provides a scientific benchmark and frame of reference for China’s urbanization,” Zhou emphasized. “At the macro level, it can be used as the tool to help formulate policies for urbanization; at the micro level, it can be taken as an element of urban planning. Moreover, it offers criteria for evaluation of a city’s policies and planning.”

Led by Zhou and Xu Lin, director of the Department of Development Planning of the NDRC, the research involved the full participation of many experts including Yang Weimin, deputy director of the General Office of the Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs of China, Zhou Qiren, professor of Peking University, Du Ping, executive vice director of the State Information Center of China, and Yoshinori Yokoyama, specially appointed professor of the University of Tokyo.

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The article was published on China net on Nov 29, 2016, and was republished by foreign media.

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A seminar held in Beijing on Monday focused on exploring urban construction and planning, tackling problems in China’s urban development and finding out the next step for China’s urbanization.

The seminar on “Rediscovering City: Continuity, Conflict and Sublimation,” hosted by Thinker Class, was attended by Zhou Muzhi, professor at Tokyo Keizai University, Mario Bellini, the renowned Italian architect, and Zhou Qiren, professor at Peking University’s National School of Development.

“Our city is actually in a sub-standard state of health,” said Professor Zhou Muzhi.

Over the last stage of urbanization, cities have been growing at an alarming pace, but the quality of living and life of urban citizens is still far from reaching the desired level. Congestion, haze and a series of “urban diseases” have ensued, and such problems as local financial shortage, the widening income gap between urban and rural areas is persisting. “China’s urbanization has featured a ‘barbaric growth,’ which results in a ‘low-density’ expansion.” Zhou said.

Professor Zhou Qiren from the National School of Development at Peking University shared Zhou Muzhi’s view. He revealed the status quo of how Chinese cities are ahead of “construction” by citing the metaphor that “the cups are plenty, but the water is scant – there isn’t enough to go around.” As suggested by Zhou Qiren, concepts, interests and habits are the causes of the “pie” phenomenon in urban construction.

In exploring how to eliminate financial dependence on land, and kick-start the next stage of China’s urban construction, Zhou pointed out that the next step should be to develop compact cities and increase the density of existing cities by enhancing their bearing force. “We should take gathering as the priority, population as a main concern, and convenience as an important factor. In doing so, it’s necessary to change concepts and strategies, make further use of market mechanisms, and introduce more local forces,” he said.

Mario Bellini, the well-known Italian architectural designer, dwelled on the issues of urban planning and habitat improvement from a designer’s perspective. In his view, a town is the most livable model, where people can get close to nature, integrate into the community, enjoy a variety of amenities within walking distance and have a high sense of belonging. At the same time, he suggested that a city’s development should not merely construct new buildings blindly, but build the city on the basis of its history and preserve its traditions. “When we build a city, we should not only think of the development from a purely economic and functional point of view,” Mario Bellini argued. “In Europe, many cities with thousands of years of history are not planned out, but are instead the result of people’s choices together with history.”

For Zhou Muzhi, urbanization, it seems, is a process of the “straw effect,” in which the city’s main concern for future development should lie in attracting human, financial and material resources so as to make the city bigger and stronger. He also pointed out that traffic congestion, air pollution and a series of “urban diseases” have brought about excessive tension and pressure on city dwellers. China’s urbanization in the next stage should strive for a higher standard of quality, increase a city’s density, enrich a city’s functions, define boundaries and avoid unlimited urban sprawl.

Zhou Muzhi also proposed that the current problems of urbanization stem from the absence of a defined system, rather than a technical vacancy. He advocated a modular approach to new urbanization.

Professor Zhou Muzhi believes that a comprehensive approach is more effective than technology in coping with the many problems that arise in cities. Thus, he proposes a new approach to “new urbanization” – the “Modular City.” Under such a design, the city is divided into a number of “modular regions” that are mixed by their various functions, including zones for residence, work, business, recreation, education, and medical care. Public transportation, communication, energy, greenway and waterway “city networks” connect all the modular regions of a city organically into a whole. Each modular region develops its own distinctive characteristics for its main functions. The concept of the “Modular City” represents Professor Zhou Muzhi’s efforts in upgrading Chinese cities.

The seminar was jointly hosted by Thinker Class of Xinhuanet, Cloud River Urban Research Institute, and the Doctor Forum of the National School of Development at Peking University.

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The article was published on China net on Dec 17, 2015, and was republished by foreign media.