The new model of urbanization entails transforming rural forms of industrial support, social insurance, human settlement and lifestyles, giving them an urban character.

 

Urban-rural integration is a fundamental requirement for comprehensive development. Balancing the processes of urbanization, industrialization and agricultural modernization is one way to achieve urban-rural integration.

The new model of urbanization is guided by a people-oriented philosophy. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang once said that the new model of urbanization does not simply mean enlarging urban areas and increasing the population of cities. It entails transforming rural forms of industrial support, social insurance, human settlement and lifestyles, giving them an urban character.
 

Urban systems should be scientifically planned. It is necessary to underline the development of small and medium-sized cities and towns, which are expected to hold the growing urban population. Also, as the effective organizational form of urban-rural integration, city groups need to be constructed on a mass scale. 

Land and population urbanization must be advanced in tandem. A per capita land index should be established in cities and towns of all sizes. Blind expansion is out of the question. At the same time, the process of population urbanization should be accelerated. Problems affecting migrant workers, such as education, employment, medical care and legal assistance, need to be resolved.
 

The new model of industrialization and urbanization promote each other. The rapid development of today’s knowledge economy and economic globalization is accelerating the process of the new model of industrialization.
 

Priority should be given to new and high-tech industries that are related to information technology. Meanwhile, high-quality human resources are indispensable. They will enhance the innovation of enterprise, talent and financial systems, upgrading national industry from “made in China” to “created in China.”

Informationization driving industrialization is the priority of the new model of industrialization. Manufacturing forms the foundation of the new model of industrialization. Information technology is urgently needed to enhance traditional manufacturing.
 

It is necessary to vigorously develop green industries. Based on the principle of sustainable development, the new model of industrialization aims to eliminate energy-intensive, polluting technologies and industries while exploring alternative energy and efficient technologies to promote ecological progress.
 

Rural areas and agricultural modernization are preconditions of achieving urban-rural integration. Agricultural modernization means revolutionizing methods and technology of agricultural production, management, and property rights.
 

Equipping agriculture with modern technology is the key to agricultural modernization. The government should strengthen support for technological innovation, intensify the construction of rural infrastructure, and use subsidies to encourage farmers to adopt new technology and methods.
 

A new model of agricultural management is urgently needed. Land-use rights need to be concentrated in the hands of farming experts, family farms and cooperatives to realize moderate scale management. All forms of cooperation can be carried out on the basis of family operation.
 

The government needs to push forward institutional innovation amid new models of urbanization and industrialization as well as agricultural modernization.
 

Institutional obstacles to urban-rural integration must be eliminated. The reform of the household registration system can be implemented by gradually easing restrictions to settlement in urban areas. In terms of rural land system reform, farmers may rent, mortgage and transfer their land to others to gain more earnings.

While promoting the equalization of basic public services, the government should focus on issues that people are most concerned with, such as compulsory education, social insurance, employment and medical care.
 

More government funding to support agriculture should be spent on infrastructure construction and technology. Also, the government needs to establish and develop rural financial service systems while intensifying the cultivation of agricultural subjects and farmers cooperation organizations.

 

Zhu Xiqun is from the School of Politics and Public Administration at Soochow University in Jiangsu Province.