(PHOTO:XINHUA NEWS AGENCY  NIUXIAOLEI)

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me begin by welcoming you to this side event co-hosted by China and the World Bank to release the report entitled "Urban China: Towards Efficient, Inclusive and Sustainable Urbanization".

The Chinese government attaches great importance to sustainable urbanization. The third plenum of the 18^th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party last year made the strategic decision on pursuing a new path to urbanization with Chinese characteristics. The central committee meeting on urbanization held at the end of last year further specified the objectives, principles and major tasks for this endeavor. The report on the work of government released last March and the National Urbanization Plan for 2014 through 2020 mapped out the specific steps. Going forward, China will pursue a new path to urbanization that puts people first, integrates the development of industrialization, IT application, urbanization and agricultural modernization, and features improved spatial layout, eco-environmental protection and preservation of Chinese cultural heritages. On this path, we are going to allow more migrant rural population to become urban residents in an orderly manner, improve urban layouts, increase cities' capability for sustainable development, promote rural-urban integration and reform and improve mechanisms and systems for urbanization.

China is an active participant and mover for international cooperation on urbanization. We have carried out multilateral and bilateral cooperation with various parties. In 2012, the Chinese leader and the president of the World Bank agreed to carry out joint studies on urbanization. Thanks to the joint efforts over the past year and more, the report entitled "Urban China: Towards Efficient, Inclusive and Sustainable Urbanization" is officially being released. This report will provide useful references for China's pursuit of the new type of urbanization. In this process, China will also learn from others' best practices.

The world today is moving towards urbanization at a fast clip. To pursue sustainable urbanization and realize harmony between human and nature is the shared challenge faced by the whole international community. With the release of this report, there will be an important reference document for international cooperation on urbanization. We hope that the world will pay closer attention to the global urbanization process and step up cooperation especially in such areas as improving urban planning, strengthening social safety net in cities and promoting the ideas of green cities and low-carbon way of life. In this process, more support should be given to developing countries in terms of capital, technology and capacity building. China supports the inclusion of sustainable urban development and urbanization in the Post-2015 development agenda. We stand ready to work with the World Bank, UN Habitat and others to make fresh contribution to world sustainable development.

Thank you.