China Unveils Roadmap for High-Quality Urban Development

China's urbanization rate has increased significantly since 2012, but the country's urban development is now shifting from rapid growth to stable development, presenting both opportunities and challenges. The State Council has released an important document outlining China's "roadmap" for high-quality urban development, emphasizing a people-oriented approach, green transformation, cultural continuity, and enhanced governance.

Key Takeaways:

• By 2030, China aims to make significant progress in building modern people's cities, improving policies and systems, accelerating the conversion of old and new kinetic energy, and enhancing the quality of people's living.
• By 2035, a modern people's city will have been basically completed, with a focus on innovation, livability, beauty, resilience, civilization, and intelligence.
• The document outlines key tasks, including optimizing the modern urban system, cultivating and strengthening new drivers of urban development, creating high-quality urban living spaces, promoting green and low-carbon urban development, enhancing urban safety and resilience, and promoting the prosperity and development of urban culture.
• The opinions propose promoting the integration of urban agglomerations, enhancing the comprehensive competitiveness of super-large cities, and improving the carrying capacity of small and medium-sized cities and county towns.
• China's urban population has increased to 940 million, and the urbanization rate has increased from 53.1% in 2012 to 67% in 2024.
• The document emphasizes the need for each city to formulate differentiated urban development plans based on its own resource endowments and infrastructure.
• The central government will coordinate, the province will take overall responsibility, and cities will implement, ensuring a coordinated and unified approach to urban work.
• The document provides a clear path forward and policy framework for advancing urban development efforts across the country.

Statistics:

• Urbanization rate: increased from 53.1% in 2012 to 67% in 2024.
• Urban population: 940 million.
• Urban development targets: by 2030, significant progress in building modern people's cities, improving policies and systems, and enhancing the quality of people's living; by 2035, a modern people's city will have been basically completed.

Sources:

• "Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Promoting High-Quality Urban Development" (2025).
• Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, August 28th.
• Yang Baojun, President of the China Urban Planning Society.