From China Daily:
China’s urbanization process has been picking up speed over the past five years, and this is evident in the growing size of the cities, their increasing economic strengths and management levels.
Official statistics show that the country’s 287 cities, from the prefecture level up, have seen more than a one-fold increase in their GDPs compared to the previous five years. And their total GDP accounts for 63.2 percent of the national total. The GDP in each of the 12 big cities, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, exceeded 200 billion yuan last year ($26.3 billion). [Full Text]
Qin Xiaoying is a researcher with China Foundation for International and Strategic Studies.