The State Council issued a guideline on Feb 6 to promote the construction of a new type of urbanization.

The new type of urbanization is an inevitable path to modernization, the greatest potential in domestic demand, an important driver for economic development and a major livelihood project, the guideline said.

It calls for overall planning and coordinated development between towns and cities of all sizes, thus improving the quality of overall urbanization.

Implementation of household registration system reform policies and improvement of basic public services covering all residents is another facet of the guideline.

It urges speeding up the renovation of shantytowns, villages in cities and dilapidated houses, the construction of a comprehensive transportation network, underground pipeline network and sponge cities, as well as new types of cities.

The guideline called for speeding up the cultivation of medium and small cities and small towns with characteristics and city clusters.

The new type of urbanization will exert a ripple effect to promote the development of new countryside, boost the expansion of infrastructure and public services to rural areas and integrated development of primary, secondary and tertiary industries and e-commerce in rural areas, the guideline said.

The guideline also called for the improvement of the land use mechanism and urban housing system, as well as innovation of the financing mechanism to support the building of the new type of urbanization.