The 2013 Central Economic Work Conference (CEWC ), an annual tone-setting economic meeting attended by top Chinese leaders, was held in Beijing in mid- December 2013. The fourday meeting reviewed China's economic progress in 2013 and listed major tasks for 2014. Urbanization was the focus of an entirely separate conference that met during the CEWC .The conference underscored China's commitment to urbanization, which is expected to accelerate in coming years and usher in a new round of investment. Recently, in an article written for Caijing magazine, Han Changfu, Chinese Minister of Agriculture, shared his views on how to realize the revisioned urbanization in the new era.

China is witnessing a huge surge in urbanization as millions move from rural areas to bustling urban centers. The rapid development of industry and urban areas and the wealth that has been accumulated in the process have laid an important foundation for industry to promote agriculture, and for urban areas to support rural development.

In addition, a significant rise in the urban population has increased market demand for agricultural products, which drives the development of agricultural production.

While seeing the opportunities of urbanization, we must be aware of the risks that industrialization and urbanization have brought to agriculture and rural areas.

In the process of industrialization and urbanization, the economic benefit of industry is significantly higher than that of agriculture. Under the rules of the market, land, capital and labor which rural areas already lack flow rapidly to industry and urban areas, especially to big cities.

Besides, rapid urbanization has also led to declines in arable land area and the rural labor force as large numbers of rural laborers switch to non-agricultural jobs.

Pushing for equal public services

To achieve agricultural modernization and coordinate building new countryside and urbanization, we should ensure equal exchange of factors of production between urban and rural areas and balance allocation of public resources between them. More attention should be paid to issues relating to agriculture, rural areas and farmers.

It's the government's due responsibility to provide equal basic public services to all people. Yet, during a long period of time, a dual household registration (hukou) system was practiced, under which public services enjoyed by city dwellers were provided by the government, while rural residents purely relied on themselves for these. This has led to the lack of needed public service products and facilities in rural areas, especially in the sectors of education, health and medical care, and culture.

Therefore, in making plans for providing public services and goods, equal consideration should be given to both urban and rural areas, with more fiscal expenditure and projects arranged for rural areas. Also, private capital should be encouraged to flow to rural areas for the development of public service facilities in the countryside.

At present, we must first solve the problems of education and health care in rural areas, which are the most prominent issues for farmers. Second, we must gradually establish a sound social security system in rural areas, continuously improve the standards of social security, and gradually realize the integrated urban and rural development in social security. Third, we should accelerate the construction of public infrastructure in rural areas, including roads and electricity, and the renovation of dilapidated buildings. Fourth, we should develop rural culture and improve farmers' cultural life, bring more cultural entertainment such as films, dramas and theatrical performances to the countryside, and support the construction of rural cultural centers and the development of farmers' cultural performance troupes.

To balance urban and rural development, major tasks include carrying out equal social policies, pushing for equal public services in both areas, expanding government funding to the rural areas and increasing the supply of public goods in rural areas. As the shortage of public services and goods in rural areas has been existing for long, it will certainly take a considerable period of time to realize the equal distribution of public services in both urban and rural areas.

Developing county-level economies

China had over 260 million migrant workers by the end of 2012, about a fifth of its total population, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

It is neither sustainable nor environmentally feasible for hundreds of millions of surplus rural laborers to swarm into big provincial capitals. Therefore, developing county-level economies is of significance for realizing urbanization in China.

At the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, it was also proposed that the country would pursue a new kind of urbanization with Chinese characteristics, and promote the sustainable and coordinated development of big, medium-sized and small cities as well as small towns.

To develop county-level economies, we need to promote the coordinated development of primary, secondary and tertiary industries within counties, accelerate the development of the industrial and service sectors, so as to increase farmers' incomes and boost rural development at the county level.

A particularly important issue of developing county-level economies is to push forward the industrialized operation of agriculture. In this way, agricultural investment, technology and information can be brought to rural areas, while the agricultural products and rural surplus laborers can be taken to cities and the industrial sector, thus closely linking agricultural production with industrial production. The production of agricultural products, to some extent, has become the first workshop on the entire industrial chain, which extends to the agricultural industrial chain, improves the added value of agricultural products, and thus improves the overall efficiency of agriculture and raises the level of agricultural modernization.

Building a new countryside

The Third Plenum proposed that we should promote urbanization and building a new countryside in a coordinated manner. Therefore, we need to have an overall consideration of both areas when making urban and rural planning. Urbanization can help boost building new countryside rather than replacing it. The integrated urban and rural development doesn't mean urban and rural areas are the same. New countryside is upgraded countryside rather than the miniature of a city. Urban and rural areas should co-exist in harmony with each having its own unique features.

To push forward building new countryside, we need to speed up the planning and construction of public infrastructure, improve public services such as water, electricity and gas supply, roads and housing, construct sewage and garbage treatment facilities, and improve the living environment in rural areas.

In fact, building a new countryside is also important for cities. Agriculture not only provides people with the necessities of life, but also provides a good ecological environment for city dwellers. It would be pitiful if the rural culture disappears in rapid urbanization.