Across China: Beijing

Urban trend on the rise

China has about 600 million residents living in 665 cities and nearly 45 percent of the country was urbanized by 2008, according to the annual report on China's urban development by the China Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The current 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) economic stimulus package will spark another round of urbanization as most of the investment will go to urban infrastructure, housing and public services, the report said.