On June 24, the "Path of Chinese Cities — CITIC Real Estate 2014 Annual Forum" was held at the Westin Beijing Chaoyang. Former Vice Minister of Construction Song Chunhua, Ba Shusong, Deputy Director of the Finance Research Institute of the Development Research Center of the State Council, Qin Hong, Director of the Policy Research Center of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, Wang Jiong, Vice Chairman and General Manager of CITIC Group, along with CITIC Real Estate executives and mainstream media, attended the meeting.

The "National New-Type Urbanization Plan (2014-2020)" recently issued by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council points out that in the course of rapid urbanization, there are prominent contradictions and problems that must be highly valued and vigorously addressed. A large number of rural migrant workers find it difficult to integrate into urban society, and the process of granting them urban resident status lags behind. "Land urbanization" is outpacing population urbanization, and construction land is used extensively and inefficiently. The spatial distribution and scale structure of towns are unreasonable and do not match the carrying capacity of resources and the environment. The level of urban management and services is not high, and "urban diseases" are becoming increasingly prominent. Natural and historical cultural heritage is poorly protected, and urban and rural construction lacks distinctive character. Institutional mechanisms are unsound, hindering the healthy development of urbanization.

In response, the meeting discussed hot topics such as urban planning and real estate development under new-type urbanization, development opportunities, and policy differences.

"In new-type urbanization, we should strengthen urban-rural coordination, promote orderly urban development, and enhance high-level construction, while also having accurate positioning and the necessary industrial support," said former Vice Minister of Construction Song Chunhua.

Qin Hong, Director of the Policy Research Center of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, said: "The real estate industry will shift from trend-based to structural opportunities, and the new development stage presents new changes: the era of rapid industry growth has passed; the period dominated by new home transactions is about to pass, and the stage in which residential development is the absolute mainstay is about to pass. Competition in the real estate industry will become increasingly fierce, and the transformation of real estate is imminent."