China to develop city clusters along Yangtze River

BEIJING: China has unveiled a plan to develop city clusters covering a total area of 3,17,000 square kms along the middle reaches of the country's longest river Yangtze, in a move to create a new economic growth engine and promote new urbanisation.

They will mainly consist of urban clusters around Wuhan in Hubei Province, the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan city group in Hunan Province and clusters around Poyang Lake in Jiangxi Province, said the State Council, China's cabinet.

The clusters cover a total area of 3,17,000 square kilometers and are a pillar of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

They will also be key areas to implement the "Rise of central China" strategy, deepen reform and opening-up and promote a new type of urbanisation, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

China put forward its "Rise of central China" strategy in 2004 amid efforts to achieve more balanced development.

China last year began creating an economic belt along the Yangtze to promote better coordination in industrial development and more efficient allocation of resources among provincial regions traversed by the Yangtze.