If, as expected, such rapid development continues over the next several decades, demographic trends suggest that China will experience an even greater rate of urbanization. Population in urban areas has already increased from 20.0% of the total population in 1980 to 36.1% in 2000 (National Bureau of Statistics 2001a), and reached 37.8 % in 2003 (Li and Ji 2003). Despite this rapid pace of urbanization, current levels are still far below the global average (48.3% in 2003; United Nations Population Division 2004). There is still great potential for further urbanization, therefore, particularly as the urbanization process catches up with the pace of industrialization, which is often just as fast in villages (National Bureau of Statistics 1999).