Zheng Huixia: Solidly Promoting Common Prosperity Through the Integrated Development of Urban and Rural Areas
As the two spatial and geographical carriers of economic and social development, the city and the countryside each carry different functions and missions. The ideal state of urban-rural relations is one where urban and rural areas have equal status, are interdependent, complement each other’s functions, and promote mutual progress. The "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Advancing Chinese-path Modernization," deliberated and adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, listed "improving the institutions and mechanisms for integrated urban-rural development" as one of the major reform tasks. It explicitly stated that "integrated urban-rural development is an inevitable requirement of Chinese-path modernization," and emphasized that "we must coordinate new-type industrialization, new-type urbanization, and all-around rural revitalization, comprehensively improve the level of integration in urban-rural planning, construction, and governance, promote the equal exchange and two-way flow of urban and rural factors, narrow the urban-rural gap, and promote the common prosperity and development of both urban and rural areas." This points the way and maps the path for promoting integrated urban-rural development and achieving common prosperity.
1. Shaping the Pattern of Common Prosperity through Spatial Integration
Promoting urban-rural spatial integration aims to break the urban-rural divide, bridge the inequality of spatial resources between urban and rural areas, eliminate obstacles to the exchange of spatial resources, and achieve balance and coordination in urban-rural development. This creates a more fair, just, and sustainable development environment for common prosperity. To this end, progress can be prioritized in the following areas:
Lead with scientific planning to optimize the spatial layout of urban and rural areas. Scientific planning is the prerequisite for achieving urban-rural spatial integration. Integrated urban-rural development plans should be formulated to clarify the positioning, goals, and paths of integration for both areas. Factors such as land use, industrial development, residential construction, the improvement of human settlements, ecological protection, disaster prevention and mitigation, and the preservation of historical culture should be considered holistically to compile practical "multi-plan integration" [1] urban-rural development plans, promoting the free flow of factors and the optimal allocation of resources. Coordination between urban and rural planning must be strengthened to ensure that various plans align in content and harmonize in space, forming a sound pattern of spatial integration.
Strengthen urban-rural infrastructure construction and improve connectivity. Infrastructure is the hardware foundation for spatial integration. Investment in rural infrastructure must be increased, particularly in transportation, water conservancy, and communications, to narrow the gap and improve production and living conditions in rural areas. We must accelerate the large-scale deployment of 5G networks, promote the upgrade of gigabit fiber-optic networks, and foster the rapid development of the Internet of Things (IoT). This involves enhancing IoT access capabilities that combine fixed and mobile, as well as wideband and narrowband connections, to create a spatial infrastructure system for communication, navigation, and remote sensing that covers both urban and rural areas and operates efficiently. We should establish and improve mechanisms for the joint management, maintenance, and sharing of urban-rural infrastructure to increase its completeness in the countryside.
Vigorously promote new-type urbanization with the county seat as an important carrier. We must respect the developmental laws of county seats, localizing efforts to shore up weak links and strengthening the construction of central towns, market towns, and "towns with distinctive features" [2]. We should leverage the positive role of towns in population aggregation, industrial concentration, and comprehensive carrying capacity to promote the employment and entrepreneurship of farmers in situ or in nearby areas, attracting more of the migrating agricultural population to settle in county seats. We must actively guide the effective alignment of the agricultural industry with urban markets, organizing production according to changes in market demand. By introducing advanced productive factors and management methods, we can cultivate new types of agricultural business entities such as family farms and farmer cooperatives. Relying on new technologies, processes, and products, we can develop new industries and business models to facilitate high-quality development in agriculture.
2. Consolidating the Foundation of Common Prosperity through Industrial Integration
Urban-rural industrial integration requires basing efforts on the respective advantages of both areas to promote mutual complementarity. This is the material basis for seeking common prosperity. In practice, this can be explored through optimizing industrial structures, driving technological innovation, and strengthening policy guidance.
Optimize industrial structures to promote urban-rural complementarity. Cities should focus on developing technology-intensive and capital-intensive industries, such as information technology, biotechnology, and high-end manufacturing, to enhance urban competitiveness and innovation. In peri-urban areas, modern agriculture and rural tourism can be developed to complement urban industries. Rural areas should rely on their natural resource advantages to develop specialized agriculture and intensive processing of agricultural products. They should actively promote new industries and business models, integrating elements like production, processing, warehousing, and logistics to continuously extend the agricultural value chain and promote the deep integration of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries [3]. We should encourage urban enterprises to relocate to rural areas to drive rural economic development, forming an industrial pattern of synchronized development.
Promote technological innovation to enhance industrial competitiveness. We must increase support for technological innovation in urban-rural industrial integration, promoting the wide application of new technologies and equipment. Platforms such as agricultural science and technology parks and modern agriculture demonstration zones should be built to upgrade the agricultural industry. Developing "Internet+" modern agriculture and utilizing e-commerce models will improve market access and efficiency, allowing farmers to share more of the value-added gains from agricultural products. Strengthening technological exchange and cooperation between urban and rural areas will facilitate the transfer and transformation of scientific achievements.
Strengthen policy guidance for coordinated industrial development. Policy design should focus on the optimal allocation and sharing of resources, breaking down barriers to create seamless docking. We should encourage rural development of characteristic industries and the transformation of rural tourism to increase value-added. Financial, tax, and fiscal policy support should be increased to provide a fair and transparent market environment, reducing operating costs and stimulating market vitality. Governments must also strengthen supervision and evaluation to ensure measures are implemented effectively, drawing on successful domestic and international experiences to move coordinated development to a new level.
3. Stimulating the Momentum of Common Prosperity through Factor Integration
The key to urban-rural factor integration lies in breaking the urban-rural divide and promoting the free flow and optimal allocation of land, labor, capital, and technology.
Deepen the reform of the rural land system. We must orderly promote the transfer of rural land management rights and facilitate appropriately scaled agricultural operations. By guiding urban capital and technology toward the countryside and combining them with rural land resources, we can improve land-use efficiency and develop new forms of agriculture—such as ecological and circular agriculture—to increase farmers' incomes.
Talent is the core factor for development. We must break down barriers to talent mobility and promote two-way flow. On one hand, we encourage outstanding urban talent to serve in the countryside, providing support in education, healthcare, and technology to improve rural public services. On the other hand, we must strengthen rural talent cultivation and attraction, using training and entrepreneurial support to encourage rural youth to return home and start businesses, injecting new vitality into the rural economy.
Capital is the "blood" of economic development. We must establish and improve mechanisms for urban-rural capital flow to support infrastructure and agricultural modernization. By setting up special funds and providing interest subsidies, we can attract social capital to invest in the countryside. Rural areas should be encouraged to utilize their own advantageous resources to broaden financing channels through shareholding cooperation and asset securitization.
Technical information acts as the bridge for integrated development. Establishing a shared platform for technical information allows for interconnectivity and resource sharing, promoting the transfer of advanced urban technology to the countryside. We should focus on IT construction in rural areas to bridge the digital divide and lay a solid information foundation for rural development.
4. Cementing the Backdrop of Common Prosperity through Ecological Integration
While cities possess sophisticated environmental protection facilities and technologies, the countryside holds vast ecological spaces and rich natural resources. The core of urban-rural ecological integration is the joint construction and sharing of ecosystems. By introducing urban environmental technologies and management experience into the countryside while utilizing rural natural advantages to develop green industries like ecological agriculture and rural tourism, we can improve the rural environment and open new paths for increasing farmers' incomes.
Adhere to the philosophy of green development. Environmental protection must be a prerequisite and a constraint for urban-rural development. We must prioritize ecological carrying capacity and plan industrial layouts to avoid over-exploitation and pollution, achieving a "win-win" for both development and protection. We should implement the integrated protection and systematic restoration of mountains, lands, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, and deserts [4], while strengthening the control of non-point source pollution in agriculture and promoting biodiversity to create beautiful villages that are pleasant to live and work in.
Popularize ecological knowledge and raise environmental awareness. We encourage the public to participate in environmental governance, gradually forming a system led by the government, with enterprises as the main body, and joint participation from social organizations and the public. Utilizing Big Data, cloud computing, and AI, we can build monitoring networks for real-time information sharing, enhancing transparency and allowing all residents to share the fruits of ecological civilization.
Strengthen ecological policy guidance and institutional guarantees. We should introduce more measures such as ecological compensation mechanisms—rewarding regions and individuals who contribute to protection—and improve the green financial system. Environmental legislation must be strengthened to crack down on ecological damage and ensure environmental security.
5. Forming a Synergy for Common Prosperity through Institutional Integration
Institutional integration is a key measure in the New Era to promote coordinated development and form a synergy for common prosperity. It aims to build a more fair, inclusive, and sustainable system that provides equal public services and stimulates economic vitality.
Household registration system (hukou) reform is the breakthrough point. It is essential for breaking the urban-rural dual structure [5]. We must deepen this reform to promote the "urbanization of the agricultural transfer population," allowing eligible migrant farmers to settle in towns and enjoy equal access to education, healthcare, employment, and social security. We should also prudently advance the reform of the rural residential land (zhaijidi) system to provide farmers with more channels for property-related income.
Deepen rural land system reforms. We must promote the orderly transfer of land management rights and develop appropriately scaled operations. The pilot program for extending the second round of land contracts by another 30 years upon expiry should be advanced orderly. We will deepen the reform of the "separation of three rights" (ownership, contracting, and management rights) for contracted land. Furthermore, we must push forward the reform of allowing rural collective land for market-related construction to enter the market, exploring the construction of a unified urban-rural market for construction land.
Increase fiscal support for rural revitalization. We must optimize the structure of fiscal expenditures to ensure that public finance tilts more heavily toward the "three rural issues" (agriculture, rural areas, and farmers). Rural financial reforms should be deepened to broaden financing channels and innovate financial products to meet the industrial needs of the countryside.
Put people first and promote the equalization of basic public services. By optimizing the allocation of educational resources and improving rural education, we can narrow the urban-rural gap. Strengthening the healthcare system will protect farmers' health rights. We should promote urban-rural cultural exchange to enrich the spiritual lives of farmers and enhance the level of civilization in rural society. Finally, the urban-rural community governance system must be improved, extending urban community services to the countryside to form a social governance pattern based on collaboration, participation, and common interests.
(The author, Zheng Huixia, is a researcher at the Henan Provincial Research Center for the System of Theories of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and a professor in the Department of Philosophy at the Party School of the CPC Henan Provincial Committee.)
Source: Guangming Daily (January 2, 2025, Page 06)