Healthier urbanization

For the first time, China's urbanization has a clear direction to follow thanks to a central conference at the weekend.

This direction will pull China's continued urban development, which is essential for its modernization, out of the unsustainable rut it was in and divert more resources to the less-developed central and western parts of the country.

The top authorities know that it is unsustainable for the existing megacities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, to further expand. Neither is it sustainable and environmentally feasible for hundreds of millions of surplus rural laborers to swarm into the big provincial capitals.