Advancing new urbanization with counties as carriers

Editor's note: Si Wei is a dean at the College of Economics and Management, Chinese Agricultural University. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CN. It has been translated from Chinese and edited for brevity and clarity.  Major tasks for the upcoming year have been determined at China's Central Economic Work Conference, including pursuing coordinated progress in new urbanization and all-around rural revitalization and promoting integrated urban-rural development.  This strategy of continuously advancing new urbanization and pursuing coordinated progress in new urbanization and all-around rural revitalization aims to bridge the urban-rural divide. Integrated urban-rural development is becoming a key to China's high-quality economic and social development and a crucial step toward achieving common prosperity for all. Urban-rural relations, as a socioeconomic structure, is a symbiotic community of life formed due to the functional differences and complementarities between cities and rural areas.  However, during China's economic and social transformation, imbalances in urban-rural development have been a long-lasting and salient issue hindering the country's modernization. Following the third plenary session of the 11th Communist Part of China's  Central Committee, China rapidly advanced urbanization and gradually addressed the structural economic and social issues, namely, the lagged development of agriculture, rural areas and farmers caused by rapid industrialization prior to reform and opening-up.  Over time, the function of rural areas shifted toward ensuring food production, maintaining ecosystems and preserving agrarian culture. Yet, in the transformation of urban and rural functions, the urbanization trajectory oriented toward large and medium-sized cities led to the gradual concentration of resources and factors in big cities.  Consequently, agriculture and rural development failed to keep pace with industrialization and urbanization, exacerbating structural conflicts such as unbalanced urban-rural development, insufficient rural progress and socio-economic disparities between urban and rural areas.  Against this backdrop, rediscovering and adjusting urban-rural patterns and promoting urban-rural integration have become essential to ensuring China's sustained, healthy economic and social development. Currently, urban and rural economic and social development is in a critical period of transformation. Key challenges and realistic constraints remain in facilitating the two-way flow of production factors, ensuring equitable allocation of public resources and optimizing spatial patterns in the urban-rural integration process.  There are 1,299 counties across China. How to expand, deepen and elevate coordinated urban-rural integration is a major issue that requires urgent attention in this new stage of development.  However, under the rural revitalization strategy, urban-rural integration lacks proper carriers and fulcrums. Counties in China are characterized by moderate land areas, close economic ties and cultural exchanges between urban and rural regions, and low integration and migration costs, making them the optimal geographic units and entry points for advancing integrated urban-rural development.  To this end, China's 2021 "No. 1 central document" explicitly proposed "treating counties as critical entry points for integrated urban-rural development and strengthening coordinated planning and top-level design."  In May 2022, the general office of the CPC Central Committee and the general office of the State Council printed and issued the "Opinions on Promoting Urbanization with County Towns as Important Carriers," marking the first time the central government has released a dedicated document on the development of county towns since reform and opening-up began.  The 2023 "No. 1 central document" further provided comprehensive plans for advancing integrated urban-rural development at the county level. China has entered a new phase of promoting all-round rural revitalization and accelerating the building of a strong agricultural nation. County towns serve as both integral components of urbanization and critical pillars of integrated urban-rural development.  Pursuing coordinated progress in new urbanization and rural revitalization and advancing integrated urban-rural development with counties as carriers represent fresh breakthroughs and repositioning of urban-rural relations in the new era.  By positioning counties at the center, leveraging small towns as bonds, and treating vast rural areas as hinterlands, it is possible to facilitate the two-way flow of production factors, ensure equitable resource allocation and foster industrial integration.  This is conducive to the well-being of urban and rural residents in counties and the optimization of spatial layouts. Moreover, it will strengthen counties' comprehensive carrying capacity.  Ultimately, the above-mentioned strategy and positioning are of great significance to all-round rural revitalization and modernization of agriculture and rural areas.

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