Official data indicates that China’s urbanisation rate is fast approaching 60% as an increasing number of rural citizens leave the countryside to pursue economic opportunities in the city.
Figures from the National Bureau of Statistics indicate that China’s permanent urban population rose to 782.98 million as of the end of 2016, accounting 57.35% of the country’s total population.
Between 2012 and 2016 China’s permanent urban population rose by 81.16 million, for an average annual increase of 20.29 million.
Across the same period China’s permanent urban population ratio increased by 4.78 percentage points in total, for an average annual rise of 1.2 percentage points.
The total number of cities in China is currently 657, of which 147 have registered population in excess of one million.
Domestic analysts point out that average urbanisation ratio of developed nations is 80%, and own historical development indicates that the urbanisation process tends to accelerate while the ratio remains between 30 – 70%.
