"China's greatest development potential lies in urbanization," the State Government said in a statement. 

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has endorsed a people-oriented type of urbanization project that includes land reforms, renovations of shantytowns, and permanent residence permits.

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The new project aims to accomplish four major goals: lift household registration restrictions on migrant rural population, speed up transforming urban shantytowns and dilapidated buildings, expand scope of trials for new urbanization practices to develop small and medium cities, and improve land housing policies by encouraging local governments to set up urbanization funds. 

Premier Li urged local governments to implement the recently approved rule on permanent resident permits. The new regulation allows city dwellers who have stable jobs that have not yet acquired hukou (registered permanent residence) access to education, employment, medical care, and legal assistance. 

The Premier also focused on the country's remaining 100 million shantytowns. He asked involved departments and local governments to identify them and pinpoint their potential "for implementation of the new-type urbanization." 

Three years ago, Premier Li visited a 13-square kilometer area in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the nation's largest clusters of shantytowns. The government has since relocated 110,000 people from the area into new homes and completed renovation. 

The renovation's range will also widen to cover more major towns and small cities. 

"As a project that has a significant bearing on the improvement of people's livelihoods, urbanization is also conducive to promote effective investment and consumption, which enables a coordinated development between cities and the countryside," the State Council said. 

Li also discussed the voluntary handover of the migrant rural population's land contract rights, their right of land use for residence, and the right for distribution of collective income.

"The situation of land use is different in different places of China, and we should create more conditions for the local places, and explore more experiences in the pilot areas for urbanization," Premier Li said. 

According to China.org, restrictions on hukou in cities will be fully liberalized for university graduates, skilled workers, and returned overseas students. 

TagsChinese Premier Li Keqiang, China Urbanization, hukou, China shantytowns, renovation