'Equal opportunity' to close rural-urban gap

HAIKOU: People living in cities and the countryside should enjoy equal opportunities because improved urban-rural integration will drive domestic spending and urbanization, a senior think-tank has said.

China's huge gap between rural and urban development is among the world's worst, said Chi Fulin, president of the China (Hainan) Institute for Reform and Development at a forum on urbanization over the weekend.

"Statistics show that in China, the income of urban citizens is about three times that of farmers, and this is only the nominal difference," Chi said.