Guizhou's urbanization program gets national boost

A promising future: the new residential area for relocated poverty-stricken people in Bijie's Qixingguan district, Guizhou. [Photo/ddcpc website]

The National Development and Reform Commission recently promoted 13 particularly successful cases where rural residents were helped to adapt to urban life and find jobs in cities – as well as cases concerning improvements to urban construction and governance levels, and the accelerated integration of urban-rural development.

Of these, three cases were reportedly from Southwest China's Guizhou province.

During the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) period, Guizhou relocated 1.82 million poverty-stricken rural people to urban areas, improved public services in urban areas and increased the urbanization rate of its permanent residents by five percentage points.

Guizhou's county-level city of Qingzhen built a vocational education town to enable the relocated rural population to get skills training, and more than 30,000 people now graduate annually.

Meanwhile, the province's county-level city of Kaili is actively encouraging its citizens and social organizations to participate in improving the city's appearance and helping its management of social order. More than 100 social organizations and 40,000 volunteers to date have participated.