Business / Opinion

Chinese cities' four modernizations

By William Antholis (China Daily) Updated: 2014-04-30 07:33

Ever-worsening air quality has forced China's government to begin focusing on cleaning up local particulate pollution and building a low-carbon economy. To this end, China's National Development and Reform Commission has issued its first-ever blueprint for adapting to climate change.

Moreover, since January, the authorities have required 15,000 factories, including State-owned enterprises, to disclose official data on airborne emissions and water discharge.

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And the government has pledged to spend $280 billion on measures to reduce air pollution over the next five years. To boost these policies' effectiveness, sustainability metrics should be factored into local leaders' performance evaluations. This is easier said than done in a country where, for more than 30 years, living standards have been seen in more narrowly economic terms.

The second major issue facing China during the urbanization process is the conflict between rural landowners and local governments - a highly combustible dynamic. Forced demolitions have already sparked thousands of isolated protests. If this is allowed to continue, public outrage will intensify, generating social instability and undermining economic aspirations.

Fortunately, some progress is being made in this area as well. Sichuan province's deputy Party secretary, Li Chuncheng - known as "Li Chaicheng," or "Li destroys the city" - was recently arrested on corruption charges for his brazen expropriation of farmers' land.

A more promising development is that, according to the Third Plenum road map, farmers must receive a fair share of the profits from land-value appreciation, and will be entitled to transfer their land or use it as collateral. Future policy could allow sales directly to developers, rather than via local governments, ensuring fairer compensation for rural citizens, and also less revenue for local governments to spend on construction.

The third issue that must be addressed is migration. For three decades, China underwent massive internal migration to the coastal areas of Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Shanghai, where export-oriented factories awaited the low-cost labor that enabled them to fuel China's GDP growth - and a much-touted reduction in global poverty. At the same time, however, the migrants strained local governments' capacity to provide adequate housing, health care, and education.