China will further advance urban renewal projects across multiple fronts, including incorporating all old residential communities built before the year 2000, Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Ni Hong announced in Beijing on Sunday.
At a press conference on people's livelihood during the third session of the 14th National People’s Congress (NPC), Ni outlined the achievements made by China in urban renewal efforts since the initiative was launched in 2019.
"Since the urban renewal initiative was introduced by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in 2019, nearly 280,000 old residential communities have been renovated, benefiting 120 million people. Over 130,000 elevators have been installed, 3.8 million parking spaces created, and nearly 80,000 eldercare and childcare facilities added. In addition, 1.05 million charging piles have been installed, and 31 million square meters of cultural, leisure, and sports facilities have been built. Moreover, 500,000 kilometers of underground pipelines have been renovated, more than 40,000 pocket parks constructed, and 120,000 kilometers of urban greenways developed," said Ni.
To further advance urban renewal projects to benefit more people, Ni highlighted some key actions to be implemented in the following years.
"All old residential communities built before the year 2000 will be included in urban renewal projects and renovated according to local conditions. Local governments are encouraged to explore resident-led initiatives for self-renovation of old residential buildings. The scope of urban village redevelopment has expanded to cities at or above the prefectural level. On the basis of the newly added one million housing units of last year, the scale of redevelopment will continue to expand. Efforts will also be intensified to promote the development of complete communities, with a particular focus on the needs of the elderly and children. This will include improving barrier-free and age-friendly facilities, as well as government-provided childcare services and children's activity spaces," said Ni.
China to include all residential communities built before 2000 in urban renewal projects: minister
China's Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao outlined the key priorities of the 32nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting, which opened on Friday in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu province.
In an interview with CGTN ahead of the two-day meeting, Wang said free trade, digital cooperation and green economy are high on the agenda of the meeting.
"The key areas include advancing regional economic integration and the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, supporting the World Trade Organization (WTO) in strengthening digital cooperation and developing green economy. At present, the international situation is marked by intertwined turbulence and chaos, with intensified geopolitical instability. The rise of unilateralism and protectionism poses serious challenges to the international economic and trade order, disrupting global and Asia-Pacific development. Against this backdrop, all parties have higher expectations for this trade ministers' meeting, hoping that it can build consensus and deliver outcomes," Wang said.
This year marks China's third time hosting the APEC meetings and the 35th anniversary of its membership.
By 2025, China had become the largest trading partner of 13 APEC economies. Trade between China and APEC economies reached 3.7 trillion U.S. dollars, accounting for 57.8 percent of China's total foreign trade.
China has signed 24 free trade agreements or economic and trade arrangements with 31 countries and regions, including 15 APEC economies. In recent years, China has also completed upgrades of free trade agreements with APEC economies such as Singapore and Peru.
The minister said that China has always been a firm supporter and an important contributor to APEC.
"We have actively shared our vast market and development opportunities with all parties. China's door to the world will only open wider and wider. Facing the common challenges, China will continue to fulfill its responsibilities as a major country, further deepen reform, expand high-standard opening-up, and continue to provide new opportunities for the Asia-Pacific region and the world with its new achievements in Chinese modernization," the minister said.
China's Commerce Minister outlines priorities for 32nd APEC trade ministers' meeting
