Incentives needed to boost urbanization's full benefits

China must overcome hesitancy on the part of both municipal governments and rural residents in order to boost the numbers of migrants settling in cities, the country's top economic planner said.

It's a challenge being addressed through incentives, according to Hu Zucai, vice-chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, who spoke at a news conference on Friday.

Hu said a key document passed by the State Council a week ago includes incentives in support of the 2014 landmark Blueprint for New-Style Urbanization. The document asks all cities, except for a few of the largest such as Beijing and Shanghai, to ease restrictions to allow college graduates, skilled workers and overseas returnees to obtain household registration permits, or hukou.