China More Urbanized

According to the China State Statistical Bureau, China's rural population has dropped 10 percent in the last decade, resulting in a sharp rise in urbanization levels.

In the fourth national census of 1990 the rural population accounted for 74 percent of the national total. In 2001, 64 percent, or 800 million, of China's 1.3 billion, were rural residents.

In recent years residents of newly built small cities and towns have changed their status from rural to urban. Rural laborers have also migrated to cities, and so the birth rate in rural areas is declining.

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