Facing health threats from rapid urbanization, China is launching a new project to encourage the construction of healthy cities nationwide.

The project, part of the global Healthy City initiative by the World Health Organization (WHO) since the 1980s, will be the first joint certification program in which WHO collaborates with a national government.

Worldwide, more than 3,000 cities now participate in the initiative, among which there are nine pilot cities in China, including Dalian in Northeast China's Liaoning province and Hangzhou in East China's Zhejiang province.

"It will help China address rising challenges, including food safety, climate change and mental health, and better prepare for the unprecedented urbanization," Vice-Health Minister Lin Li said on Monday at the second annual International Mayors Forum for Healthy Cities in Dalian.

By 2015, more than half of the Chinese population will live in urban areas, official statistics show. However, unplanned and poorly managed urbanization will bring problems like insufficient water and sanitation systems, lack of quality food and safe housing, and environment pollution.