Recently, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development issued a notice on carrying out urban renewal demonstration work. The notice proposes that demonstration cities raise funds through multiple channels, systematically advance urban renewal actions, and coordinate the promotion of urban underground pipeline networks and utility tunnel construction, the "plant-network integration" construction and renovation of sewage pipeline networks, the strengthening of weak links in municipal infrastructure, and the renewal and renovation of old districts, so as to optimize urban spatial layout and improve urban functions.

The main contents of the notice are as follows:

Work objectives and principles

The Ministry of Finance, together with the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, will determine through competitive selection a number of cities with good basic conditions, high enthusiasm, and prominent characteristics to carry out typical demonstrations and steadily and orderly advance urban renewal actions. The central government will provide fixed-amount subsidies to demonstration cities. Demonstration cities shall formulate urban renewal work plans, coordinate the use of central and local funds, improve regulations and systems, planning standards, investment and financing mechanisms, and related supporting policies, and, in conjunction with key tasks such as the renewal and renovation of urban underground pipeline networks, the "plant-network integration" construction and renovation of sewage pipeline networks, the strengthening of weak links in municipal infrastructure, and the renewal and renovation of old districts, continuously advance urban renewal work. Through three years of demonstration, efforts will be made to steadily improve the level of intensive laying and safety of urban underground pipeline networks, significantly enhance the efficiency of domestic sewage collection and treatment, effectively improve the weak links and shortcomings of municipal infrastructure, continuously promote the construction of livable environments in old districts, meet the people's needs for a high-quality life, and form replicable and promotable models and experience.

Support scope and application conditions

The support targets of the urban renewal demonstration work are cities at the prefecture level and above. In 2024, each province (region, municipality) may recommend one city for evaluation. The first batch will select 15 demonstration cities, with priority given to megacities, super-large cities, and large cities along the Yangtze River Economic Belt. Central government subsidy funds will focus on supporting the renewal and renovation of urban underground pipeline networks and the "plant-network integration" construction and renovation of sewage pipeline networks.

Demonstration cities must simultaneously meet the following basic conditions:

1. Establish an organizational leadership and coordination working mechanism for advancing urban renewal work, and formulate a demonstration city construction work plan;

2. The city's financial resources shall meet the needs of urban renewal investment, local government debt risk shall be low, and no new hidden government debt shall be formed due to carrying out urban renewal;

3. In recent years, no major production safety accidents or major negative public opinion incidents have occurred in the field of housing and urban-rural development.

Selection and organization method

The selection of demonstration cities shall be determined through competitive review, with priority given to cities with solid basic work, complete conditions, and high enthusiasm.

(1) Provincial recommendation. Provincial finance and housing and urban-rural development departments shall, in accordance with the demonstration work requirements, select and recommend qualified cities in their regions to participate in the review, organize the preparation of implementation plans, and provide necessary supporting materials.

(2) Written review. The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development shall organize experts to review and score the cities' application plans. A list of cities entering the on-site defense shall be determined according to a 120% differential ratio.

(3) On-site defense. Each city entering the on-site defense shall send personnel to participate in a public defense, with on-site scoring and on-site ranking announcement. The top 15 will be shortlisted cities.

(4) Centralized public announcement. Shortlisted cities shall be determined as demonstration cities after public announcement without objection. If objections exist and are verified, the demonstration qualification shall be canceled.

Subsidy standards and support scope

(1) Central government financial subsidy standards. The central government shall provide fixed-amount subsidies to demonstration cities by region. Among them: the total subsidy for each city in the eastern region shall not exceed 800 million yuan, the total subsidy for each city in the central region shall not exceed 1 billion yuan, the total subsidy for each city in the western region shall not exceed 1.2 billion yuan, and the total subsidy for each municipality directly under the central government shall not exceed 1.2 billion yuan. Funds shall be allocated in place by year according to the progress of work.

(2) Direction of fund support. Demonstration cities shall raise funds through multiple channels, systematically advance urban renewal actions, and coordinate the promotion of urban underground pipeline networks and utility tunnel construction, the "plant-network integration" construction and renovation of sewage pipeline networks, the strengthening of weak links in municipal infrastructure, and the renewal and renovation of old districts, so as to optimize urban spatial layout and improve urban functions. Specifically, this includes:

1. Renewal and renovation of urban underground pipeline networks. Implement renewal and renovation of urban gas, heating, water supply and drainage, electricity, and other urban underground pipeline networks, advance the construction of urban underground utility tunnels according to local conditions, and improve the overall level of urban underground pipeline networks.

2. Construction of model areas with full coverage of urban sewage pipeline networks. Renew and renovate sewage treatment pipeline networks according to the "plant-network integration" model to improve the efficiency of sewage collection and treatment.

3. Strengthening weak links in municipal infrastructure. Upgrade and renovate municipal infrastructure such as domestic waste classification, integrated poles and boxes, and logistics facilities, and fill shortcomings and weak links in urban infrastructure; enhance the service functions of urban green spaces, and advance the construction of pocket parks and the opening and sharing of green spaces.

4. Renewal and renovation of old districts. Carry out energy-saving and carbon-reduction upgrading and renovation of historical and cultural blocks, existing public buildings, and public spaces, continuously improve building functions and enhance the quality of the living environment. Implement urban function improvement projects, advance age-friendly and child-friendly renovation, and accelerate the construction and renovation of barrier-free environments in public places.

Demonstration cities shall, in accordance with the principles of adapting to local conditions and implementing city-specific policies, highlight the key demonstration contents of this urban renewal, and solve in a targeted manner the problems constraining the development of the city, avoiding trying to cover everything and "sprinkling pepper evenly." At the same time, they shall properly coordinate and connect with existing policies, and specific projects shall not repeatedly use central government financial funds from other channels such as the additional government bonds issued in 2023, central budget investment, vehicle purchase tax funds, and ultra-long-term special government bonds, so as to prevent crossover and duplication.

Daily tracking, supervision and inspection, and performance management

Provincial housing and urban-rural development and finance departments shall establish daily tracking and supervision and inspection mechanisms for demonstration cities, and promptly report to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the Ministry of Finance on task implementation, existing problems, and experience and practices of demonstration cities (in principle, no less than once per year for each typical demonstration city). Among them, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development shall focus on inspecting task completion, and the finance departments shall focus on inspecting the compliance of financial fund use. The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the Ministry of Finance shall, on the basis of summarizing local reports, carry out random inspections of demonstration cities.

The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development shall carry out performance evaluation in accordance with relevant budget management requirements. The Ministry of Finance shall be mainly responsible for formulating performance evaluation plans and setting indicators, and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development shall be mainly responsible for organizing the implementation of the plans and verifying task completion. The performance evaluation results will be linked to the allocation of central government financial funds. For demonstration cities with poor performance evaluation results, subsidy funds will be delayed or reduced as appropriate.

Other matters

(1) The provincial finance and housing and urban-rural development departments participating in the application shall jointly issue a document to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development before May 24, and organize applicant cities to submit electronic versions (including supporting materials) through the mailboxes of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, or mail them via mobile storage media such as CDs. Application materials shall not contain any classified documents or classified content.

(2) To implement the requirement of tightening belts, applicant cities shall prepare work plans in strict accordance with the requirements, avoid entrusting intermediary agencies to "compile booklets and tell stories," printing luxury materials, and other situations, and effectively reduce expenditures related to application work. In addition to official documents, the implementation plan and related supporting materials shall all be submitted in electronic form.

(3) All localities are requested to recommend cities and submit materials in strict accordance with the number and requirements specified in the notice, and be responsible for the authenticity of the submitted content. For cities that fail to submit as required or whose application content is obviously untrue, their application qualification for the current year will be canceled.

Contact information:

Department of Economic Construction, Ministry of Finance:

Tel: 010-61965043

Email: shikelu@mof.gov.cn

Department of Urban Construction, Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development:

Tel: 010-58933160

Email: chengshui@mohurd.gov.cn

Attachment 1: Work Plan for the Construction of Urban Renewal Demonstration Cities

Attachment 2: Performance Indicator System for Urban Renewal Demonstration Cities