Investors home in on urban growth

The urbanization drive will create "appealing" business opportunities for US investors, a leading trade promoter said.

US investors are considering partnering with local governments in a senior citizen program in 10 major cities, said Barter Wu, chairman of the US-China Economic and Trade Promotion Association.

Under the program, local governments will set up satellite communities and 30 percent of senior citizens from city centers will be relocated to the new urban areas.

"This program will help boost urbanization, and it will also stimulate industries related to the aging population and create more jobs," Wu said.

US investors are inspecting sites around China and "we will probably see communities built up in the next three years", he said.

Urbanization is expected to create investment opportunities worth 40 trillion yuan ($6.3 trillion) in the next 10 years, according to expert estimations.

Feng Kui, a researcher at the China Center for Urban Development under the National Development and Reform Commission, the major economic policymaking body, said the urbanization drive will promote investment and boost consumption.

The major investors will be private and foreign enterprises, as well as individuals, instead of central and local governments, he said.

In 2011, for the first time in history, more Chinese people lived in urban areas than in the countryside.

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