The urbanization rate of Shandong province will reach 56 percent in 2015 and 63 percent in 2020, according to a programme for the provincial urbanization released recently by the provincial government.

By the year of 2020, four predominantly urban regions will form in the province, including the urban congeries of Shandong Peninsula, the economic circle of Jinan, the provincial capital, the town development zone of Yellow River Delta, and urban region of southern Shandong.

At that time, there will be 16 meta-cities with urban population of over 1 million in Shandong, 20 cities with urban population of from 0.5 million to 1million, 40 cities with urban population of from 0.2 million to 0.5 million, 30 small cities with urban population of blow 0.2 million and 100 towns with urban population of over 50,000.