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Public cost for rural-to-urban shift is $21,000 per capita: report

2014-03-18 14:09 Ecns.cn Web Editor: Si Huan
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A large number of  high residential buildings can be seen in China's cities and towns, which are also symbols of China's urbanization. (Photo source: chinanews.com)

A large number of high residential buildings can be seen in China's cities and towns, which are also symbols of China's urbanization. (Photo source: chinanews.com)

(ECNS) – The public cost of a rural person becoming an urban one is estimated to be 130,000 yuan ($21,047), according to the 21st Century Business Herald, citing a report released by a research group at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).

The per capita cost of urbanization of the rural population in Eastern, Central, and Western China is 176,000 yuan, 104,000 yuan, and 106,000 yuan respectively.

The public cost includes a sum of fiscal expenditures that the government needs to spend on public services, social insurance, education and housing for new citizens, according to Shan Jingjing, a research group member at the CASS.

The group speculated that if the cost is paid by the government, and 25 million rural immigrants become urban residents annually, the government should invest 650 billion yuan, equivalent to 5.5 percent of China's public revenue in 2012. The central government and local governments can afford such expenditures, the research group estimated.

In addition, new citizens need to spend 100,000 on house purchase and 18,000 yuan on personal costs annually, according to the report.

"Personal costs mainly refer to the difference in living expenses between rural and urban areas, including housing, food and education," the report said.

The group also said that rural immigrants may have problems affording to live in cities, and suggested that farmers could rent or mortgage land resources to cover costs.

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