Up to 300 million Chinese farmers will move into cities over the next 20 years, states a recent report issued by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

China is experiencing the world's largest urbanization movement and fast economic growth is driving the process, says the report.  

The document, researched by Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, predicts that by 2010 there'll be about 125 cities in China with a population of over one million and fifty cities will have in excess of two million.

Despite fast economic growth since the 1980s the contribution of Chinese cities to the national economy is lower than in developed countries. Cities are still growing at breakneck speed but their production efficiency is low, states the report. What's more the high population density in Chinese cities creates problems for sustainable development, it adds. 

City cluster developments should be included in the national strategy and a system developed to ensure that happens, according to the report.

China has over 1.3 billion people and more than 800 million are farmers.

(Xinhua News Agency July 31, 2006)