Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, urged progress on urban village renovation in megacities and megalopolises, in the government's latest move to boost the demand and support the economy.

At a teleconference on Friday, He said that actively and steadily advancing the renewal of urban villages or underdeveloped areas in megacities and megalopolises will expand domestic demand and optimize the real-estate structure. It also helps eliminate the shortcomings of urban construction and governance and improve the living environment and conditions of residents, according to the vice premier.

He stressed that the renewal of urban villages is a complex and arduous systematic project, which should be classified and transformed in different ways, such as dismantling and rebuilding, renovating and upgrading, and combining the two approaches.

He called for new ways to solve the problems, including how to calculate gains and losses, how to use money, how to levy land, and how to settle people and industries, and highlighted overall planning, market-driven principle, public infrastructure construction, and the inheritance and protection of historical and cultural heritage during the renewal work.

The vice premier urged relevant departments and local governments to improve the policy system as soon as possible, earnestly fulfill their responsibilities and improve working mechanisms, so as to advance the urban village renewal work to achieve effective results.

Days before the meeting, the State Council issued a guideline to promote the transformation and upgrading of villages in megacities and megalopolises, aiming to improve people's livelihoods, expand domestic demand, and promote high-quality urban development.

The guideline encourages and supports the participation of private investment. And authorities will raise funds for the renovation through multiple channels, efficiently utilize land resources, and combine the urban renewal with the construction of affordable government-subsidized housing, read the guideline passed on July 21.

Industry insiders say as young people and immigrants who just moved to cities are mainly located in urban villages due to the cheaper accommodation, the revamp of such places will improve their living environment, solve the unbalanced and inadequate development in cities and release consumption potential and domestic demand by offering full public services.

China has seven megacities: Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Tianjin, each with populations in excess of 10 million. Fourteen other cities, including Hangzhou, Wuhan, Nanjing, Dongguan, Xi'an, and Foshan, are megalopolises with populations of between 5 million and 10 million.

Along with the revamp of urban villages, China has also been renovating old urban residential communities across the country. 

According to a news release on Monday (July 24) by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, China plans to renovate 53,000 old urban residential communities this year, and had started the renovation of 42,600 communities in the first half of the year, benefiting 7.42 million households.

(With input from agencies)