National Business Daily has selected the top 10 news of urban development in 2023

Reporter: Wu Linjing, Yang Qifei, Dan Zhongkui, Cheng Xiaoling, Editor: Liu Yanmei, Yang Huan

Recently, the "Chinese Inventory 2023" was announced, and "Zhen" was selected as the domestic word of the year. After three years of the new crown epidemic, countries, cities and individuals are more than ever to "recover" and revitalize the economy and regain confidence.

A city's popularity symbolizes the vitality of the city. With the advent of the era of negative population growth, the trend of population agglomeration has become more prominent, the population flow has become increasingly active, and more and more places have begun to relax the threshold for settlement.

Bigger cities mean more responsibility. National-level metropolitan areas continue to expand, megacities and megacities are carrying the banner of urban renewal, and rising Chinese cities are taking the stage of home diplomacy.

To boost the economy, we must start from the key points. The industrial transformation has been accelerated, investment promotion has been close to hand-to-hand combat, and the recovery of consumption has continued to be hot, stirring up the surging urban rivers and lakes......

In 2023, we will see the power of urban recovery and firmly move forward through the waves.

As we are about to bid farewell to 2023 and usher in 2024, National Business Daily has launched the "NBD Annual News List - Top Ten Urban Development News in 2023".

In 2023, the national metropolitan area will be expanded again. The picture shows the landmark building of Guangzhou's cityscape Visual China

The era of negative population growth in Chinese is coming

The situation of the Chinese population has taken a historic turn. On January 17, 2023, the National Bureau of Statistics released data showing that the national population was 141175 at the end of 2022, a decrease of 850,000 from the end of the previous year and the first negative growth in 61 years.

As of the end of 2022, there were 280.04 million people aged 60 and above in China, accounting for 19.8% of the country's population. For the first time, the number of births fell below 10 million, nearly halved from 17.86 million in 2016, and the natural population growth rate fell to a negative of -0.6%. The decline in the natural rate of population growth means that the continent may move into a severely ageing society sooner than expected.

Mega cities are actively and steadily promoting the transformation of urban villages

Since the beginning of this year, the transformation of urban villages has attracted much attention. The meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held on April 28 put forward the requirement of "actively and steadily promoting the transformation of urban villages in super large and mega cities"; in July, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Guiding Opinions on Actively and Steadily Promoting the Transformation of Urban Villages in Super Large and Mega Cities"; in October, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development put forward specific policy implementation measures for the transformation of urban villages, which are divided into three categories to promote implementation: one is to carry out demolition and new construction that meets the requirements, the other is to carry out regular rectification and upgrading, and the third is to implement the combination of demolition and consolidation in between.

According to the latest news, Guangzhou plans to issue regulations on the transformation of urban villages, which is also the first local regulations and regulations specifically for the transformation of urban villages in the country.

The Chengdu Universiade and the Hangzhou Asian Games were successfully held

In 2023, two international multi-sport events, the Chengdu Universiade and the Hangzhou Asian Games, will be successfully held.

From midsummer to autumn, the two cities, one in the east and one in the west, have become the symbol and home of China to invite guests from all over the world and open its doors to the world. Athletes from more than 100 countries and regions gathered in Chengdu to experience and share the myriad of Chinese modernization, and as the largest, most numerous and most extensive Asian Games, tens of thousands of athletes spent unforgettable time in Zhejiang.

In the grand event of sports and civilization exchanges, the world has seen a dynamic and inclusive China, and more and more Chinese cities have come to the fore in the strategy of "running a good meeting and improving a city".

The national metropolitan area was further expanded

At the beginning of this year, the mayor of Shenyang said on CCTV that the Shenyang metropolitan area had been approved by the National Development and Reform Commission. Since then, the Hangzhou, Zhengzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Qingdao metropolitan areas have also announced the approval news by the local authorities in different ways, and the number of approved metropolitan areas has increased rapidly.

The planning and construction of the metropolitan area began in 2019 with the "Guiding Opinions on Cultivating and Developing Modern Metropolitan Areas" issued by the National Development and Reform Commission, and together with the six metropolitan areas released "informally" this year, the National Development and Reform Commission has successively approved 13 metropolitan areas, including Nanjing, Fuzhou, Chengdu, Changzhutan, Xi'an, Chongqing, Wuhan, Hangzhou, Shenyang, Zhengzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Qingdao.

Jiangsu and Zhejiang "synchronously" liberalize the restrictions on settlement

Liberalization and relaxation of restrictions on settlement have become the general trend. In July this year, the "Implementation Plan of Zhejiang Province to Promote the Implementation of the System of Providing Basic Public Services in Permanent Residence and Orderly Promote the Urbanization of Agricultural Migrant Population (2023~2027)" proposed to "relax the conditions for the settlement of agricultural migrant population" and "the whole province (except Hangzhou urban area) will completely cancel the settlement restriction policy". In August, the Jiangsu Provincial Development and Reform Commission solicited public opinions on the "Several Policies and Measures to Promote the Sustained Economic Recovery of the Province and Help High-quality Development Continue to Be at the Forefront", which intends to make it clear that the province (except for Nanjing and Suzhou urban areas) will fully cancel the settlement restriction policy.

Previously, Jiangxi, Heilongjiang and other provinces have completely lifted the restrictions on urban settlement, but as a major economic province in the east, the addition of Jiangsu and Zhejiang is more symbolic.

New on the list of megacities

In October 2023, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development released the "2022 Urban Construction Statistical Yearbook", which shows that there are 10 cities with a permanent population of more than 10 million, namely Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Chengdu, Tianjin, Dongguan, Wuhan and Hangzhou, and 9 cities with a permanent population of 5 million ~ 10 million, namely Xi'an, Zhengzhou, Nanjing, Jinan, Hefei, Shenyang, Qingdao, Changsha and Suzhou.

According to the current standards, the two types of cities are super large and mega cities. Compared with the list of megacities and megacities released by the National Bureau of Statistics in 2020 based on the seventh population census, Wuhan, Dongguan and Hangzhou are the newly shortlisted megacities, and Hefei and Suzhou are the new megacities.

The old and new motor cities accelerated their reshuffle

In March this year, with the joint promotion of the Hubei local government and Dongfeng car companies, the domestic auto market set off a wave of price cuts. This big price reduction based on fuel vehicles is regarded as a "self-help" move for the traditional automobile industry and the old automobile city to be forced out in the era of new energy vehicles.

At the same time, the rise of new energy vehicle cities is accelerating. At the end of this year, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Xi'an will open the "Three Kingdoms Killing" of "million-level" to determine the ownership of the "first city of new energy vehicles". In addition, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Hefei and other cities have also targeted the production or production capacity of new energy vehicles/intelligent networked vehicles at more than one million units in 2025, in an attempt to reshape the automobile manufacturing map.

Shanghai's rare "reverse investment"

Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen have always been the home of the city's investment promotion, but since the beginning of this year, Shanghai has made a rare U-turn and opened the investment promotion conference to Chengdu, Hangzhou, Wuhan and other new first-tier cities.

In the context of first-class cities returning to "strong industrial cities", Shanghai, as the largest economic city, is no exception. In June this year, the "Shanghai Three-Year Action Plan for Promoting the High-quality Development of the Manufacturing Industry (2023~2025)" was promulgated, proposing that by 2025, the industrial added value will exceed 1.3 trillion yuan, accounting for more than 25% of the regional GDP, the average annual growth rate of industrial investment will be 5%, and the functional position of the manufacturing industry to support the city's economic development will be significantly enhanced.

Beijing master's and doctoral graduates are the first to surpass the bachelor's degree

In March this year, Su Xiuli, deputy director of the Employment and Entrepreneurship Guidance Center for College Students in Beijing Universities, mentioned in an exclusive interview with the media that the number of graduates from Beijing colleges and universities this year was about 285,000, a record high. In addition, there is a new change in Beijing's graduation army this year, with the number of graduate students (master's and doctorate) graduating more than undergraduates for the first time. It is the employment season of "Golden Three, Silver and Four", and this phenomenon of "inversion" of academic qualifications has caused anxiety among many graduates, especially undergraduates.

Not long ago, the Ministry of Education released data that the number of applicants for the national master's examination in 2024 will be 4.38 million, a decrease of 360,000 from 2023, and the number of applicants for postgraduate entrance examination will decline for the first time in the past nine years.

A string of barbecues brings a city on fire

In the consumption recovery boom in 2023, the obscure industrial city of Zibo has achieved a phenomenal exit with "a string of barbecues and a city on fire".

From college students to tourists from all over the world to "enter Zibo to bake", small cakes + ovens + dipping sauce attract countless diners, and Zibo has also become one of the hottest cities of the year. Some netizens even joked, "The last time Zibo was so lively, it was when it was in Qi State." ”

Since then, Zibo quickly opened a "barbecue special train", and announced the holding of a barbecue festival, the establishment of the Zibo Barbecue Association, the release of the Zibo barbecue map, etc., and many local government departments also organized to learn from Zibo Xi experience and release research reports, trying to summarize the experience of Zibo and copy the Zibo model.

Top 10 news experts on urban development

Heading towards 2024 with confidence

□ Tang Jiqiang (Member of Sichuan Provincial Decision-making Advisory Committee, Director and Chief Economist of Xicai Think Tank, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics)

In 2023, we have gone through an extremely unusual year, and China's economy has withstood the test in the face of a complex external environment and has basically been able to meet expectations. From the perspective of the characteristics of China's urban economic development, the top ten urban development news selected this time include changes in Chinese population growth, as well as structural changes in the internal economy, especially to meet the development trend of seeking stability and progress in the future, as well as the impact and challenges brought by the adjustment of the supply chain, showing great economic resilience.

In this context, some events have become phenomenal news, such as the development of the eastern region to attract investment in the mainland, the expansion of national metropolitan areas, and the transformation of urban villages in super megacities. Generally speaking, we are now moving towards 2024 with confidence in the general tone of promoting stability and establishing first and then breaking through, believing and expecting that China's economy will be able to make progress while maintaining stability and achieve the goal of high-quality development in the future.

The city's fireworks are back

□ Chen Xian (Professor, Antai College of Economics and Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Researcher, China Development Research Institute and Shenzhen Industry Research Institute)

In 2023, the three-year new crown epidemic is over, people will start their unrestrained life again, the fireworks of the city will return, and the vitality of the city will be rejuvenated. In this year, topics such as city scale, urban industry, urban spatial structure, as well as Internet celebrity cities, urban renewal, and how cities can be more accessible to the people have attracted people's attention.

In the context of negative population growth, there are still urban populations that continue to grow, with Wuhan, Dongguan and Hangzhou being the newly shortlisted megacities, and Hefei and Suzhou being the new megacities. The flow of talents in the flow of population is the focus of people's attention, and the relaxation of settlement restrictions in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces is of symbolic significance. The level of talent in big cities is also constantly improving, and the number of graduate students in Beijing's graduation army this year has exceeded that of undergraduate students for the first time.

Since the beginning of this year, a number of metropolitan development plans have been approved by the National Development and Reform Commission. Metropolitan areas that break through the boundaries of administrative divisions are reshaping China's urban system. The metropolitan area plays a particularly important role in continuously optimizing the spatial structure, establishing a unified market, realizing the equalization of basic public services, and coordinating social and ecological governance.

In addition, Shijiazhuang's creation of a rock city and Zibo's barbecue have attracted people's attention this year, but the development of the city cannot rely on the Internet celebrity of one thing, and the city's brand and urban characteristics need to make continuous efforts.

Population and industrial concentration are increasing

□ Ding Changfa (Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Xiamen University)

Negative population growth, which should have a particularly big impact on China's future, will bring about social security problems, consumption problems, and real estate problems.

The expansion of national metropolitan areas is an old and new problem, and the purpose is to achieve balanced regional economic development through the expansion of metropolitan areas.

The economic significance of the transformation of urban villages in megacities is greater than that of sociological significance, and under the new normal of the economy, the transformation of urban villages has a certain role in stimulating domestic demand and promoting economic development.

On the one hand, it shows that there has been a huge leap forward in mainland education, and on the other hand, it has brought about the depreciation of academic qualifications to a certain extent, and it is worth thinking about how to absorb more jobs through economic development and various policies.

The expansion of megacities shows that our population and industrial concentration are still increasing. In the future, the Chinese population will still gather towards this trend, and the fourth, fifth, and sixth-tier cities will also develop slowly, and uneven development will remain the norm.

National Business Daily