Wang Yiming, Development Research Center of the State Council

At the 7th Forum of Prospects for China’s Economic Performance sponsored by the Development Research Center of the State Council (DRC) and organized by China Economic Times, Wang Yiming, Vice President of DRC gave a keynote speech on “Deepening Reform to Promote People-Centered Urbanization”. Wang Yiming said that one of the tasks set in the 13th Five-Year Plan is to achieve the goal of raising the rate of registered population in towns and cities. This requires to quicken the implementation of the task assigned by the central government to make around one hundred million migrant workers and other permanent resident population settle down in towns and cities. Quickening the implementation of this goal set by the central government needs to resolve the institutional problems facing new urbanization drive which include household registration system, land system, public services, housing system, fiscal and financial policy, and grade-based management system. New “people-centered” urbanization can be promoted through deepened reform by focusing on a series of reform measures with regard to household registration system, land system, basic public services, housing system, fiscal system, financial system, and urban management system. 1. Household registration system reform. We should comprehensively promote resident permit system among rural migrant population and establish the basic public service system corresponding to the period of residency. 2. Land system reform. We should improve land requisition system and social guarantee system for farmers whose land is expropriated, improve the land right confirmation, registration, and certification system, set up a market for rural land trading, strictly regulate the function of rural land, and establish a unified urban-rural market for construction purpose. 3. Basic public service improvement. We should resolve the problem of schooling for migrant workers’ children by enrolling them into public schools Besides, we should include registered farmers in towns and cities into the social guarantee system and their petition insurance and medical insurance that they enjoy in rural areas should be also included into the urban social insurance system. Furthermore, we should improve the public employment service system which covers both urban and rural areas and promote on a steady basis the nation-wide basic public services for permanent residents. 4. Deepened housing system reform. The housing demands of new residents should be taken as the major starting point of our work. 5. Fiscal system reform. We should improve the system of fiscal transfer payment, index of construction land utilization, and budgetary fiscal investment in relation to attracting rural migrant population. 6. Financial system reform. We should establish a diversified rural financial system and innovate rural financial service products. And 7. Urban management system reform. The national standard of setting up county-level cities should be adjusted in accordance with the development of urbanization.