Research

Source: National Bureau of Statistics, China Statistical Yearbook, 2014

Figure 1.16
Urbanization rate (the urban share of population) increased from 18 per cent in 1978 to over 50 per cent in 2011 for the first time, and rose further to 54 per cent in 2013. Beginning in the early 1980s, this increase was fuelled by the migration of large numbers of surplus agricultural workers and rural populations seeking better economic opportunities in cities.

* Since 1987, China has been implementing a strategy to manage urbanization by supporting the growth of small cities, developing medium-sized cities and limiting the size of big cities. In order to promote the urbanization steadily at this stage, help the migrant population to settle in the cities and ensure they are gradually covered by the basic urban public services, the Government issued the Opinions on Further Promoting Reform of Household Registration System in 2014, and as one of the measures, to adjust the household registration policy for migrants. The government will completely lift restrictions on household registration in towns and small cities (which are officially classified as cities with less than 500,000 people), gradually relax the restrictions in medium-sized cities (500,000-1,000,000 people), properly set qualifications for registration in big cities (1-5 million people), and strictly control the population scale in mega cities (over 5 million people).