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China’s Urban Dreams, and the Regional Reality
Report

China’s Urban Dreams, and the Regional Reality

EIU, 2014

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Editorial Rating

9

Qualities

  • Comprehensive
  • Analytical
  • Engaging

Recommendation

China’s policy makers rate rapid urbanization as critical in propelling the nation toward a consumer-led economy. China’s ambition, etched in concrete and steel, is transforming the country, and a planned migration of people from farms to cities will occur on a scale without precedent in human history. However, as the Economist Intelligence Unit warns in this incisive study, investors seeking to carve out a niche in this vast market need to do their homework, as not every prefecture will have a thriving metropolis at its heart. The report is a fascinating read, and getAbstract recommends it to executives, investors and urban planners.

Take-Aways

  • To shift from a manufacturing-led economy to a consumer-led economy, China needs to foster an urban consumer class that will fuel the country’s future economic growth.
  • Leaders plan multiyear rounds of state-led infrastructure building to accommodate an estimated 940 million city dwellers by 2030. That urbanization rate of 67%, however, would still lag the average 2010 OECD rate of around 80%.
  • Falling fertility rates and a rising age profile are slowing China’s pace of urban growth. By the mid-2040s, China’s urban population could begin to drop in absolute numbers.

About the Author

The Economist Intelligence Unit is an independent research and analysis organization.


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