China will strengthen urban renewal efforts through a centralized spatial planning system aimed at optimizing resource management and preserving historical areas, said Zhang Bing, chief planner of the Ministry of Natural Resources on Tuesday.
China unveiled a set of guidelines earlier on Thursday which is designed to achieve key progress in the country's urban renewal campaign by 2030. They also aim to improve safety conditions, enhance service efficiency, elevate living environments, develop business models, and preserve cultural heritage.
Zhang outlined several specific support measures during a State Council Information Office (SCIO) press conference, highlighting a "whole lifecycle" approach to land use and data-sharing across government departments.
"By establishing the 'one map' unified spatial database integrated with natural resource management and territorial spatial planning, we will intensify the investigation of existing resource assets, figure out their quantity, ownership and utilization. And we will meet the requirement of "old cities cannot be demolished again", carry out targeted investigations on spatial elements of natural, cultural and historical aspects within the city to form a unified base map and data base. On the 'one map' system, we will push for a whole lifecycle management on land survey, ownership registration, rights and interests, urban planning, usage regulation and law enforcement, streamline data sharing among departments, truly realize the management of assets, the use of resources, and the revitalization of cities, and support urban renewal actions," he said.
The ministry pledged closer collaboration with the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development to address policy gaps, saying that efforts will be made to identify challenges early and enhance policy support to ensure the urban renewal plans are implemented.
China to boost urban renewal with unified land-use mapping system
Russia said on Monday that its armed forces had captured another settlement in the Kharkiv region, while Ukraine reported striking Russian targets and power outages following Russian attacks.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said in its latest report that over the past 24 hours, Russian forces struck 142 areas, including facilities used to transport Western-supplied weapons, as well as ammunition and fuel depots, and temporary deployment sites of Ukrainian forces and foreign mercenaries.
It said Russian forces also destroyed Ukrainian armored vehicles, various types of artillery and other military vehicles, while air defense units shot down 76 Ukrainian drones.
In addition, the ministry said Russian forces had taken control of the settlement of Vilcha in the Kharkiv region.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said on the same day that 223 combat engagements took place over the past 24 hours.
The Ukrainian Air Force, together with missile units and artillery, struck Russian personnel concentration areas and one key target.
The Ukrainian side said its forces repelled the Russian army's attacks in the directions of Kursk, Kupyansk, Lyman, and Pokrovsk.
Russian forces launched air strikes on power facilities in Odesa region, Zaporizhzhia region, Dnipropetrovsk region and Donetsk region in the early hours of Monday, according to Ukrainian media reports.
As of Monday morning, some areas in those regions were experiencing power outages.
Ukraine's largest private energy company, DTEK Group, said Russian forces attacked two of its power facilities in the Odesa region in the early hours of Monday, causing severe damage.
The company said repairs would take time, adding that continued air raid sirens have complicated the work. Technicians are working to restore key facilities and power supplies as soon as possible.
The Russian side has not commented on the attacks.
Russia captures one more settlement in Kharkiv, Ukraine reports power outages from Russian attacks
