But in some places, the mistaken concept that the building of towns involves nothing more than mass construction still exists.

Li Tie, from the office for economic restructuring under the State Council, points out that the allocation of rural labor is of utmost importance.

“Some places neglect economic bases, are ignorant of industrial development and the allocation of rural laborers, while putting much energy into building squares, roads, gardens, green areas, and such image-conscious projects. These things don’t help the towns to grow.”

Latest research shows that there are more than 170 million surplus labourers in China’s rural areas. Actually, if properly developed, small towns could serve as residential areas for the large number of surplus laborers and bring about the development of their neighboring villages

Zhulin town in central China’s Henan province is a good example. With only 6000 residents, the town has brought up the first listed pharmaceutical company in the province, which not only helped to effectively distribute the local rural labor force, but also brought in over 3000 laborers from other places. Head of the town Li Shuzhuan explains.

“This rural-urban combination has an important advantage: we have access to a great amount of raw materials from our villages, which brings much profits to local farmers. Meanwhile, our downstream production also provides more positions.”

Li Tie says local governments in small towns need to pay more attention to economic development. They should give preferential policies to township and village enterprises, while at the same time avoiding developing without any direction, which leads to the waste of public resources.

(cri.com December 27, 2002)