CPC Leadership Group of the Ministry of Natural Resources: Deeply Study and Implement General Secretary Xi Jinping’s Important Expositions on Territorial Space Planning to Better Serve High-Quality Development and Chinese Modernization
Party Group of the Ministry of Natural Resources: Deeply Study and Implement the Spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s Important Expositions on Territorial Spatial Planning to Better Serve High-Quality Development and the Construction of Chinese-path Modernization
Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping has personally planned, deployed, and promoted the "multi-plan integration" [1] reform, producing a series of important expositions on territorial spatial planning. These important expositions represent the General Secretary's profound reflections and major deployments for planning work, formulated from a strategic height of overseeing the overall situation for the entire Party and country, a strategic dimension of coordinating economic and social development with ecological civilization construction, and a spatial scale covering all domains and all factors. They have pointed out the direction and provided the fundamental follow-through for planning work. Under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the Party Group of the Ministry of Natural Resources has deeply studied and grasped the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions and the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee. In accordance with the decision-making and deployments of the CPC Central Committee, we continue to push forward the "multi-plan integration" reform in depth, establishing a territorial spatial planning system and supervising its implementation. This constructs a new pattern of territorial spatial development and protection, contributing strength to high-quality development and the construction of Chinese-path modernization. The "Shenzhen Territorial Spatial Master Plan (2021–2035)" proposes to continuously optimize a "multi-center, cluster-based, and ecological" urban spatial structure, promoting the expansion and quality improvement of the metropolitan core area. The photo shows an aerial view of Yantian District, Shenzhen.
Fully Recognize the Great Significance of Establishing a Unified Territorial Spatial Planning System
General Secretary Xi Jinping attaches great importance to planning work, noting multiple times that "scientific planning is the greatest benefit, planning errors are the greatest waste, and planning volatility is the greatest taboo." [2] He emphasized that "integrating spatial plans such as major function zone planning, land use planning, and urban-rural planning into a unified territorial spatial plan to achieve 'multi-plan integration' is a major decision and deployment made by the CPC Central Committee." The national territory is the spatial carrier for ecological civilization construction. To coordinate planning and improve top-level design from a macro perspective, we must first properly design the development pattern of the national territory. Establishing a nationally unified, clearly defined (in terms of responsibilities and powers), scientific, and efficient territorial spatial planning system—and holistically planning the development and protection pattern of the national territory in the New Era—is an urgent necessity. It addresses past problems such as overlapping and conflicting spatial plans and the "morning orders and evening changes" [3] of local planning, thereby drawing a single blueprint for the national territory. It is a key measure for advancing ecological civilization construction and promoting the harmonious coexistence of man and nature; an important means of adhering to a people-centered approach to realize high-level protection, high-quality development, and high-quality life; and an inevitable requirement for ensuring the effective implementation of national strategies and achieving the Two Centenary Goals and the Chinese Dream of the Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation.
Accurately Grasp the General Requirements for Constructing the Territorial Spatial Planning System in the New Era
Persist in bottom-line thinking to fortify the spatial foundation for secure development. General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed to "scientifically plan the development and protection pattern of the national territory and establish a sound territorial spatial management and control mechanism," and to "promote an economic and social development pattern, urban spatial layout, and industrial structural adjustment that are compatible with the carrying capacity of resources and the environment." He emphasized the need to "persist in bottom-line thinking, use territorial spatial planning as the basis, and treat urban, agricultural, and ecological spaces—as well as the ecological protection redlines, permanent basic farmland protection redlines, and urban development boundaries—as insurmountable redlines for adjusting economic structures, planning industrial development, and advancing urbanization." Currently, as the world enters a new period of turbulence and transformation, the domestic and international environments present a series of new topics and challenges for China's development. We must establish bottom-line thinking and extreme-case thinking, clarifying the binding indicators and rigid bottom lines for territorial spatial development and protection. We must limit economic activities and human behavior within the limits of what natural resources and the ecological environment can bear. Requirements for food security, ecological security, water resource security, energy and resource security, and maritime rights and interests security must be incorporated into the control requirements of territorial spatial planning to support high-quality development with high-level protection.
Persist in a systems perspective to optimize the new pattern of territorial spatial development and protection. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized "the need to holistically plan national territorial development according to the principles of balancing population, resources, and environment, and unifying economic, social, and ecological benefits. We must coordinate population distribution, economic layout, land use, and ecological environmental protection, and scientifically arrange productive space, living space, and ecological space." [4] He pointed out that "to promote regional development, we must place greater emphasis on the spatial equilibrium between population/economy and resources/environment. We must both promote equilibrium between regional economies and populations—narrowing the gap in per capita GDP between regions—and promote the adaptation of regional population/economy to resource/environmental carrying capacity, narrowing the gap between them." The spatial structure of China’s economic and social development is undergoing profound changes. The traditional urban development model, driven mainly by scale and factors of production, is hard to sustain. New urban populations and emerging industries continue to aggregate in advantageous areas such as city clusters, metropolitan circles, and central cities. We must unswervingly implement the strategy of major function zones, base our efforts on resource and environmental carrying capacity, leverage the comparative advantages of various regions, build a unified national market, guide the rational flow and aggregation of resource factors, and promote the formation of a new pattern of territorial spatial development and protection characterized by distinct functional roles, complementary advantages, and high-quality development.
Persist in a people-centered approach to let the people enjoy more fruits of reform and development. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized "adhering to the principle that the people build the city and the city is for the people," [5] noting that "we must better advance people-centered urbanization to make cities healthier, safer, and more livable, becoming spaces for the high-quality life of the people." China's urbanization has transitioned from a phase of rapid development to a new type of urbanization phase that emphasizes both growth rate and quality, centered on people. We must take the people's needs for a better life as the starting point and ultimate goal of our work. Whether planning and construction are done well must ultimately be measured by the satisfaction of the masses. We must adhere to the people-centered development philosophy, focusing on solving the urgent problems and anxieties of the masses. In our planning, we must coordinate functions such as housing, employment, transportation, and recreation; enhance the balance and accessibility of basic public services; systematically arrange public open spaces where blue and green [6] are interwoven and urban and rural areas are connected; and build "urban and rural living circles" suitable for living, working, traveling, studying, and elderly care, thereby improving the quality of the human settlement environment.
Persist in drawing the blueprint to the end to improve the modernization of the spatial governance system and governance capacity. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that "once a plan is approved, it must be strictly implemented, following through one term after another, to prevent the phenomenon of 'changing the leadership, changing the plan.'" Currently, the formulation and approval of territorial spatial master plans at the provincial, municipal, and county levels across the country have been basically completed. We should practically promote the implementation of these plans and establish a complete territorial spatial planning system consisting of formulation and approval, implementation and supervision, policies and regulations, and technical standards. We must transition from traditional "blueprint-style" planning to "governance-style" planning, establish the concept of life-cycle management, utilize new technical means such as information technology and artificial intelligence, coordinate urban planning, construction, and governance, and strive to forge a new path of modern urban spatial governance that conforms to China’s national conditions.
Shoulder Responsibilities Bravely to Push the Cause of Territorial Spatial Planning to a New Level
Exert the strategic guiding role of territorial spatial planning. Within territorial spatial planning, we must coordinately demarcate and strictly guard the "three control lines"—cultivate land and permanent basic farmland, ecological protection redlines, and urban development boundaries. We must strengthen the guiding and binding role of territorial spatial planning over various specialized plans, effectively safeguarding the authority and solemnity of territorial spatial planning. Based on the strategy of major function zones, we will promote the deep integration of major national strategies, expand territorial strategic depth, and provide spatial guarantees and layout arrangements for major national strategies, regional coordinated development strategies, the development of new quality productive forces, and comprehensive rural revitalization. We will improve the urban planning system, coordinate the allocation of factors such as population, resources, and industry within city clusters and metropolitan circles, and promote the extension of public services and infrastructure from central cities to surrounding small towns and rural areas. This will build a regional development pattern that is multi-centered, networked, intensive, and distributed, guiding the coordinated development and intensive, compact layout of large, medium, and small cities and towns. Based on the "two unifications" [7] functional positioning, we will establish and improve a unified and linked system of territorial spatial use regulation and planning permits covering all territories and types. We will construct use regulation rules—based on territorial spatial planning—that span from land to sea and from above ground to underground, covering all national territorial space.
Serve and guarantee the overall situation of economic and social development. According to the positioning of different major functions, we will comprehensively utilize innovative policy tools such as planning and scheduling to improve the land management system that aligns efficiently with macro policies and regional development. We will establish a mechanism where the allocation of new construction land indicators is coordinated with the increase in the permanent resident population, supporting major economic provinces in "playing the leading role" [8]. We will vigorously support urban renewal actions, strengthen the support and integrated innovation of planning and land policies, and orderly promote mixed land development, composite use of space, and rational conversion of land use to create new space for the development of new industries, new formats, and new models. We will conduct "urban physical examinations" and tailor measures to supplement shortcomings in public service facilities such as medical care, education, culture, sports, and elderly care. While meeting the people’s aspirations for a better life, this will also increase the value of land resource assets. In the construction of the "15-minute community life circle," Shanghai has planned and built a group of "small but beautiful, small but refined" pocket parks friendly to all ages. The photo shows Mile Park located in the Meiyuan area of Lujiazui Subdistrict, Pudong.
Construct the "One Map" of territorial spatial planning. Based on national land surveys and the construction of "Real 3D China," we will establish a "One Map" with unified standards, clear baseline data, and coverage of all factors of natural resources. This will achieve unified management of various resources such as cultivated land, minerals, oceans, water, forests, grasslands, wetlands, deserts, and national parks, solving problems of unclear resource bases, inconsistent standards, and horizontal or vertical disconnects. Based on the territorial spatial planning basic information platform, we will form a "One Map" for territorial spatial planning that integrates land and sea, unifies urban and rural areas, and manages all domains and factors. On this "One Map," we will coordinate the spatial needs and conflicts of various specialized fields and improve the level of informatics and digital-intelligence governance in planning. In accordance with the requirements for "unified base maps, unified standards, unified planning, and unified platforms," we will promote departmental data sharing, establish a work mechanism for departmental coordination and linkage, and truly make the planning "come alive," keep the resources "under control," and let everyone "utilize" them.
Establish a mechanism for regular evaluation of planning implementation. Based on the "One Map" of territorial spatial planning and in conjunction with the Five-Year Plans for National Economic and Social Development, we will establish a system for regular physical examinations and five-year evaluations of plans. We will accelerate the construction of the Territorial Spatial Planning Implementation Monitoring Network (CSPON) and improve the monitoring, evaluation, and early warning mechanisms for various territorial spatial plans at all levels. Evaluation results will serve as an important basis for the supervision and assessment of planning implementation. Based on the results of regular examinations and five-year evaluations, we will dynamically adjust and refine the implementation of territorial spatial plans, establishing a life-cycle management mechanism of "planning-implementation-evaluation-supervision" for dynamic maintenance to better adapt to the needs of economic and social development.
Consolidate the regulatory, policy, and talent foundations of territorial spatial planning. Building on current local regulations and management practices, we will accelerate the introduction of the Territorial Spatial Planning Law of the People's Republic of China to bring the achievements of the "multi-plan integration" reform into the orbit of the rule of law as soon as possible. We will accelerate the improvement of the technical standard system for planning, continue to implement the three-year action plan for the construction of the territorial spatial planning standard system, comprehensively review and evaluate original planning-related standards, and update them in a timely manner to improve their practicality and timeliness. We will strengthen the construction of the planning discipline, relying on the Urban and Rural Planning Education Steering Committee to deepen the construction and promotion of the planning practice teaching community. We will accelerate the construction of planning textbooks and curriculum systems. We will strengthen the construction of the industry workforce, optimize the management and service of registered planners, increase support for major scientific and technological projects and evaluations in territorial spatial planning, and strengthen the cultivation of high-end planning talent.
Web Editor: Tongxin Source: "Qiushi" [Flagship version for central state organs], Issue 3, 2025