China should boost the development of three city clusters respectively on the Yangtze River delta, Pearl River delta and the area along the Bohai Bay rim, said Niu Wenyuan, an urbanization specialist, at a mayors' forum Monday.

A city cluster is a high-standard mode for urbanization, which features resource sharing among bigger and smaller cities, according to Niu.

Niu said the three city clusters in eastern, southern and northern parts of China should play a role in the nation's urbanization and serve as major engines for the national economy.

The two-day mayors' forum, which opened today, was sponsored by the China Association of Mayors, China Research Institute of Urban Science and the Municipal Government of Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province.

Niu noted that such a development mode could avoid the unilateral annexation of smaller cities by their bigger peers, Niu added. He explained that under such a mode, heat island effect would reduce to better urban ecological conditions and cultural diversity would develop among different cities.

The three major city clusters account for only three percent of China's total land area, but contribute to 37 percent of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP). Niu predicted that their contribution to the nation's GDP would rise to 65 percent or so in the future.

(Xinhua News Agency November 1, 2004)