China to boost urban renewal with unified land-use mapping system

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

China's express delivery sector continued to post significant growth in the first 11 months of 2025, handling over 180 billion parcels to record a nearly 15 percent year-on-year increase, official data showed on Tuesday.

According to the State Post Bureau, the country's China's broader postal industry, which includes express delivery services, saw a total of 196.75 billion parcels from January through November, marking a 12.9 percent rise from the same period in 2024.

The postal industry's total business revenue exceeded 1.63 trillion yuan (over 230 billion U.S. dollars), up 6.7 percent year on year, the data showed.

Specifically, the overall express delivery revenue reached nearly 1.36 trillion yuan, a 7.1 percent increase compared to the previous year.

Same-city express deliveries amounted to 14.47 billion parcels, a 2.2 percent year-on-year increase, while cross-region deliveries surged by 16.3 percent to 162.44 billion parcels.

The total volume of express deliveries to overseas countries and China's Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions reached 3.83 billion parcels, a year-on-year increase of 11.3 percent.

In November alone, China's postal industry handled 19.49 billion parcels, up 3.8 percent year on year. Among these, more than 18 billion parcels were handled in express delivery sector, up 5 percent year on year.

In November, the postal industry's business revenue, excluding the direct business revenue of Postal Savings Bank, reached 162.68 billion yuan (over 23 billion U.S. dollars), a year-on-year decrease of 2.0 percent.

Specifically, express delivery revenue reached 137.65 billion yuan (around 19.5 billion U.S. dollars), showing a year-on-year decrease of 3.7 percent.

China's express delivery sector posts double-digit growth in first 11 months