(2020 Service Trade Fair) Think tank experts: "The answer is the city" in response to development challenges
China News Service, Beijing, September 6 (Reporter Pang Wuji) The epidemic has accelerated the changes in the global political and economic landscape, and the global governance system and domestic economic and social development are facing unprecedented tests.
Yu Jiantuo, deputy secretary general of the China Development Research Foundation, said in an interview with a reporter from China News Agency on the sidelines of the 2020 China International Trade in Services Fair, “What do we rely on to meet these challenges? The answer is cities.”
According to the latest statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics, the 12 urban agglomerations, including the Yangtze River Delta and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, account for only 20% of the country’s land area and nearly two-thirds of the population, but their economic share (according to Estimated at constant prices in 2010) in 2018, the proportion of the country was close to 90%.
The city is a vital carrier in the development of human society.
Yu Jiantuo believes that in the past few decades, China's economic growth rate has been surprising, but in fact the urban development speed is faster, and the larger the urban agglomeration, the faster the development speed and the stronger the economic absorption capacity.
Even though China's urbanization process has slowed down, Yu Jiantuo pointed out that these 12 urban agglomerations have increased their share of the national economy by 2-3 percentage points in the past three years.
Many industry experts regard urban agglomerations and metropolitan areas as an important driving force for China's future economic development.
Liu Shijin, deputy director of the Economic Committee of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, believes that China's urbanization process still has about 20% room for improvement. Metropolitan areas and urban agglomerations are the most important structural potential for economic growth for a long time to come.
In the sudden outbreak of the new crown pneumonia this year, the significance of cities to human life has become more prominent.
Yu Jiantuo pointed out that a city is a large, complex, and highly specialized collaboration system, which gives it a resilience that is unmatched by individuals, companies, and individual buildings.
The urban system can free people from want, fear, and continuously create new opportunities.
Yu Jiantuo pointed out that the city has huge development opportunities.
In the future, big cities should benefit more people from these opportunities in a more sustainable and inclusive way.
What is the focus of future urban development?
Yu Jiantuo believes that the urbanization of the registered population should be promoted at a faster pace and intensity.
Big cities, especially "super first-tier cities", should advance their opening up to the outside world with greater determination and a higher sense of responsibility.
City governance should be more diverse and inclusive, and the city should be the mainstay to build an integrated public service and social welfare system.
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