From our archives

May 28, 1984

Govt expedites rural planning

China is speeding up overall planning of towns and villages to keep ahead of the construction boom in the countryside that is accompanying the rapid development of commodity production.

According to the Ministry of Urban and Rural Construction and Environmental Protection, planning has been completed for nearly 9,800 towns and 970,000 villages, or 32 percent of the total.

"Our purpose is to build well-laid towns and villages that do not occupy much land but have sufficient public utilities and shops and recreational facilities to achieve a coordinated social and economic development in the countryside," said Li Jingzhao, an adviser on rural construction to the ministry.

Firm to serve rural industry set up

A rural industry-oriented joint technology development company has been set up in Beijing.

The first of its kind in China, the company was set up jointly over the weekend by more than 100 research institutes and rural industrial enterprises.

"We'll act as go-betweens to make scientific research results readily available to the capital's 10,000 rural industrial establishments," said Kong Xiang'en, manager of the company.

Life expectancy in Shanghai up

The life expectancy of people living in Shanghai is now 73 years. Thirty years ago it was 43, according to the Shanghai Health Bureau.

The death rate in Shanghai has gone down from 20 per thousand then to 6.8 per thousand now. And infant mortality has dropped to 15 per thousand, lower than the World Health Organization standard of 20 per thousand.

At present, the main causes of death are cardio and cerebral vascular diseases and cancer.

(China Daily 05/27/2009 page9)