Economics
China's Biggest Farming Province Is Now Majority Urban
- More than half of Henan’s 96 million residents live in cities
- China still lags U.S. on urbanization - a sign of development
Photographer: Peter Parks/AFP via Getty Images
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China’s drive to transform itself into a developed economy has passed a significant milestone -- it’s biggest agricultural province is now more than half urban.
Henan, in central China, had 50.2 percent of its 96 million residents in cities or towns at the end of last year, from 48.5 percent in 2016, according to local government data. The third-most-populous province, it produces about a tenth of the country’s food and surpassed the majority urban milestone six years after China as a whole.