Premier Li Keqiang stressed in the 2016 Government Work Report that new type of human-centric urbanization should be promoted to help 100 million people settle in urban areas; shanty towns and urban villages accommodating 100 million people should be renovated; and 100 million people should be guided to contribute to urbanization in central and western areas.

In February, the State Council issued a guideline to promote the citizenry of rural households. According to the guideline, household registration reform will be accelerated to encourage different regions to loosen the requirements for household registration.

In June, the State Council issued a guideline to enhance protection of children in poverty. Migrant children with rural households or other permanent residents can attend local entrance examinations and receive free secondary vocational education.

The most urgent demand for rural households after they move into urban areas is accommodation. Another guideline also issued in June by the State Council listed specific policies to develop housing rental market from six aspects.

To guarantee farmers’ land rights after they move into urban areas, the Ministry of Land and Resources issued a notice in April. The notice required land and resources departments of all levels should have a plan on land of various industries and types to ensure the rights of farmers who migrant to cities.

By 2020, the renovation of current shanty towns, urban villages and dilapidated buildings should be basically finished. A guideline on promoting the new type of urbanization was issued in February, pointing out that the renovation should be accelerated. This April, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development issued another notice, requiring governments of every level to give more financial support to the renovation.

City cluster can help to promote the inter-connection among regions and share development results. Meanwhile, strengthening the construction of counties and towns can develop new middle and small cities, thus attracting more population and promoting the urbanization of central and western areas.

A series of development plans of city clusters in different places were issued from February to May, including the Harbin and Changchun city cluster, the Chengdu-Chongqing city cluster and the Yangtze River Delta city cluster.