China will continue to promote people-centered new urbanization in 2026, said Chinese Premier Li Qiang when delivering the government work report at the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress on Thursday.

"Well-conceived and systematic measures will be taken to grant permanent urban residency to people who move to cities from rural areas," said Li. He added that based on local conditions, China will ease relevant eligibility standards so that more children of rural migrant workers can take high school entrance examinations in their current place of residence. The country will also continue to refine the policies for linking transfer payments, quotas for land newly designated for construction and infrastructure investment to the number of urban residency approvals granted by local governments, he said.

The premier said that China will improve infrastructure planning and public resource allocation at the county level and develop distinctive industries to promote high-quality development of county economies. He said the government will continue to tap the full potential of cities, refine the modern urban system, and pursue high-quality urban renewal by steadily renovating old urban residential compounds and urban villages. Idle land as well as vacant housing and infrastructure will be put to better use, he added.

Li said development of projects will be boosted for ensuring the safety of urban infrastructure lifelines, and fire prevention and rescue capacity be improved for high-rise buildings.

"We will develop new types of industry-oriented and business-oriented communities, make urban governance smarter and more meticulous, and build people-centered modern cities," said Li.