Xu Lin

Director of the China Center for Urban Development of the National Development and Reform Commission

——Characteristic towns to promote entrepreneurship and innovation

Characteristic towns are able to integrate urban and rural functions in a reasonable spatial area and form an integrated urban-rural development pattern. A characteristic town can also become an entrepreneurial innovation platform and foster a new town that brings industry, city, people, culture and scenery together.

As an important part of new urbanization, characteristic towns are an exploration and experiment in the process of urbanization in China. Small towns and characteristic towns serve as links and essential buffer zones between urban and rural areas, and could bring in more urban and rural population, drive rural revitalization, and cater to the urban population's new interest in countryside pursuits.