The difficulties and key points of promoting the new type of urbanization

Recently, at the "2015 High-level International Forum on China's urbanization" co-sponsored by the China Center for Urban and small Town Reform and Development, the World Economic Forum and the World Bank, the issue of citizenization of agricultural migrant population has once again become the focus of attention of all parties. Wang Yiming, deputy secretary general of the National Development and Reform Commission, Li tie, director of the China Urban and small Town Reform and Development Center, and Yue Xiuhu, deputy director of the Planning Department of the National Development and Reform Commission, conducted in-depth discussions on this issue.

They believe that at present, the citizenization of the agricultural transfer population is still the key and difficult point to promote the new type of urbanization. At present, there are still institutional obstacles hindering the natural progress of urbanization, the core of which is the household registration system of the separation of urban and rural areas and the urban-rural dual welfare structure attached to the household registration. If the obstacles cannot be broken, the free movement of labor as a factor of production and fair access to social welfare cannot be realized.

How to solve the problem of household registration of migrant workers?

Li tie pointed out that at present, the urbanization rate of China's resident population is 53.7%, and the urbanization rate of the registered population is only about 36%, which is not only far lower than the average level of 80% in developed countries, but also lower than the average level of 60% in developing countries whose per capita income is similar to that of China. There is still plenty of room for development.

Wang Yiming pointed out: "at present, 269 million migrant workers in China live, live and work in various cities and towns for a long time, and many people have stable jobs, but they cannot enjoy the social and public welfare benefits that urban residents with household registration can enjoy." this will lead to a new problem of 'dual structure within the city'. "

He believes that "the citizenization of migrant workers is different in different places, and the methods and steps should be adapted to local conditions." Because the reform of the household registration system is not a day's work, it needs to be implemented in batches and promoted in an orderly manner. The citizenization of migrant workers, on the one hand, allows those who have the conditions to settle in cities to settle down; on the other hand, those who are not qualified or unwilling to settle down should also provide equal basic public services. In particular, housing, children's education, old-age care and medical care involving their own interests should gradually be the same as urban residents.

How to share the cost of new urbanization?

"the process of new urbanization will further aggravate the financial pressure on social security, and the problem of financing difficulties perplexes many local governments." Li tie said, "the cost of citizenization of a migrant worker is estimated to range from 80,000 to 130,000 yuan." Previously, the project report "cost estimation of Peasant Workers' citizenization" by the Development Research Center of the State Council also pointed out that in the short term, compulsory education and indemnificatory housing are the main expenditure, while in the long run, old-age insurance subsidies are the main expenditure, of which compulsory education and indemnificatory housing account for about 1% of the total cost, and old-age insurance subsidies account for about 40% of the total cost. 50% of the total cost.

Li tie believes that it is very important to establish a cost-sharing mechanism for the citizenization of migrant workers, which is shared by the government, enterprises and individuals. Infrastructure construction is public welfare, and the one-time investment is large, but it can benefit several generations, and the current return may be very low. Different financing methods can be adopted according to the different nature of the project. Projects with good and stable short-term returns can be invested by introducing social capital through the public-private joint venture PPP model; for projects with low returns or no short-term economic benefits, they still have to be financed by the government.

How to guide the movement of population between cities?

With the higher and higher level of urbanization, more and more people flock to big cities, and the livability of cities is declining year by year. Urban diseases such as overcrowding, difficulties in employment, shortage of housing, polarization between the rich and the poor, and the deterioration of public health are becoming more and more serious. Li tie believes that the root cause of the "disease" of big cities may not lie in their "big", but in "big and inappropriate". According to the latest standard of city size, those with a population of more than 5 million are mega-cities and those with more than 10 million are mega-cities. At present, there are 16 mega-cities in China, accounting for 2% of the total, including 6 mega-cities. Although problems continue to emerge in big cities, the attractiveness of big cities is still far greater than that of small and medium-sized cities.

Li tie believes that the citizenization of migrant workers should not only achieve the transformation of the identity and work of a considerable number of migrant workers, but also realize the integration of work style, life style, social communication, values and urban residents in terms of quality. In order to promote the citizenization of migrant workers, it is necessary to consider the urban layout as a whole, rely on big cities and focus on small and medium-sized cities, gradually form urban agglomerations with great radiation effect, and avoid the emergence of "big city diseases" and "slums". To adjust the layout of regional development, especially in the central and western regions, we must be prepared to meet the industrial gradient transfer in the eastern region, and promote the local transfer of employment of migrant workers.

When talking about how to promote the construction of a new type of urbanization, Yue Xiuhu pointed out that the process of urbanization should respect economic, natural, and social laws, and must guide population evacuation through the appropriate evacuation of economic distribution and urban functions. not through planning or mandatory measures. To guide the rational flow of population, it is fundamentally necessary to solve the problem of inequality in the allocation of public resources. In order to guide the flow of population to small and medium-sized cities, it is necessary to further optimize the allocation of public resources and narrow the gap in public services between cities of different sizes, so as to make other small and medium-sized cities attractive enough.