Li welcomes EU role in urbanization

Premier Li Keqiang welcomed the European Union's participation in China's urbanization process on Monday, especially in smart city building and energy efficiency.

Addressing a forum on the China-EU urbanization partnership in Brussels, Belgium, Li called industrialization and urbanization the "twins" of modernization, noting that China's urbanization has increased significantly in the past three decades of rapid industrial progress.

Despite an urbanization rate of 54.8 percent by 2014 - compared with 17.92 percent in 1978 - China still faces a number of problems, Li said. He pointed to a new type of people-oriented urbanization, featuring harmonious and inclusive cities, as the solution.