China to control scale of megacities: Wen

BEIJING - Premier Wen Jiabao said on Tuesday that the Chinese government should carry out urbanization "actively yet prudently," restrain the size of large cities and drive the development of their surrounding areas.

"Urbanization is a historical task in China's modernization drive," Wen told nearly 3,000 national legislators at the opening session of the 12th National People's Congress, China's top legislature.

Wen said the government should promote the sound development of urbanization by making plans scientifically, balancing geographical distribution, coordinating urban and rural development, using land economically and tailoring measures to local conditions.

He noted that small- and medium-sized cities, as well as small towns, should become better able to develop industry, provide public services, create jobs and attract residents.

In accelerating urbanization, the government should speed up the reform of the household registration system, create an equitable institutional environment for freedom of movement and expand the coverage of basic public services in urban areas to migrant workers and other permanent residents, Wen stressed.

The government's efforts to push urbanization may result in a paradox, however.

"People in big cities usually enjoy more job opportunities but have to endure much higher living costs, while in small- and mid-sized cities, living costs are lower but jobs are fewer," said Zheng Xinli, deputy director of the Policy Research Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee

Zheng urged the government to allocate more resources to develop small- and mid-sized cities and towns and boost their capacity to accommodate more people and industries.

"We should not develop any more megacities where the population exceeds 10 million," he said.

Currently, there are about 10 megacities in China with more than 10 million people each, including Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou and Chengdu, according to the latest census figures.