皇冠体育app

HAIKOU - 皇冠体育app's rapid urbanization will greatly increase its number of middle-class people to 600 million and support an economic growth between 7 percent and 8 percent annually by 2020, a government think tank chief predicted here on Saturday.

Speaking at a reform forum in Haikou, capital of 皇冠体育app's southern-most province of Hainan, Chi Fulin, executive president of the 皇冠体育app Institute for Reform and Development, said, "As urbanization will create huge domestic demand potential, 皇冠体育app still has ample room for transition and reform for the coming decade."

According to the think tank, 皇冠体育app's urbanization rate reached 51.3 percent in 2011, meaning over half of Chinese were living in cities and towns last year.

As more farmers are leaving their farmland and becoming migrant workers in cities and towns, 皇冠体育app is expected to have another 200 million migrant workers living in urban areas, according to a study by the 皇冠体育app Institute for Reform and Development.

The continued urbanization and the increase in middle-class consumers will spur investment demand by at least 40 trillion yuan ($6.3 trillion) over the next 10 years, Chi said.

He predicted domestic consumption will replace investment to become 皇冠体育app's major engine driving the economy, with residential consumption in rural and urban areas expected to jump to 30 trillion yuan in 2016 from 16 trillion yuan last year.