The local government of Zhuhai, a special economic zone in south China's Guangdong Province, is raising about 100 million yuan (US$12.1 million) to subside farmers who lose their land for the city's urbanization drive a decade ago but failed to enjoy social welfare services.

Chen Yihuo, Party head of the city's Tangwan Town, is dashing about for the purpose. "Farmers have had their land appropriated, but haven't enjoyed the same treatment as for an urbanite yet," he said, adding that the situation must be changed.

This is an epitome of China's accelerating urbanization drive.

Many areas in China are being challenged by an unreasonable land allocation system, limited supply of urban jobs, default of payments for migrant workers and establishment of a social security system for the group, as the economic growth and urban construction have gained momentum, according to Wang Qishan, mayor of Beijing.

How to realize a concerted development of urban and rural areas has become one of the top concerns of mayors of 661 cities across China, said Wang, also chairman of China's Association of Mayors, in a letter to a mayors' forum held early November in Guangzhou, capital city of Guangdong.

Last year, China recorded an urbanization rate of 40 percent. The nation has 130 million farmers leave their land, including 90 million who live in cities and towns, said Construction Minister Wang Guangtao at the forum.

However, the urbanization rate is still far below the 70-percent level for the developed nations, or 10 percentage points lower than developing countries of the same economic development standards, according to Long Yongtu, general-secretary of Boao Forum for Asia, a high-profile think tank for problems in the regional cooperation of Asia.

Moreover, in the urbanization process, land was urbanized faster than people were in China, causing numerous farmers to lose means to make a living.

Labor forces that migrated from rural to urban areas failed to enjoy the same public entitlements and services as urban citizens did, according to Yang Weimin, head of the planning department of the State Development and Reform Commission.

"Working in a city, a farmer should become an urban taxpayer and should enjoy a citizen's treatment and join community in the city," Wang Guangtao said. "China should not expand cities by depriving of farmers' interests," he added.

Therefore, Wang said, it is imperative for his ministry to improve formulation of urban and rural development masterplans. In the process, importance should be attached to the protection and reasonable use of various resources, Wang added.

(Xinhua News Agency November 11, 2004)