【正文】 the scope of rural urbanization. At present, the number of people being transferred in this way is small。 small towns will continue to develop rapidly and differentially。 urbanization lagging behind industrial development。中文 5200 字 本科畢業(yè)論文外文翻譯 出 處： International Journal of Social Economics 作 者： De Wang Socioeconomic characteristics of rural urbanization in Southern Jiangsu, China De Wang Abstract Rural urbanization in China has been discussed by many scholars since the 1980s. In this paper, Wuxi and Jiangyin, two counties in China’s most developed area of southern Jiangsu, were selected as target areas. Four characteristics of rural urbanization, namely, multilevel transfer of rural population into urban population。 dispersed spatial pattern。 and important role of towns in rural urbanization, were analyzed. Through an analysis of the socioeconomic development of Wuxi and Jiangyin, three trends in future development of rural urbanization can be predicted: rural population will continue to progress from lower to higher level and from inplete to plete form。 and rural migrants in regional cities will gradually increase. Keywords China Rural economy Urban economy 1 Introduction Rural urbanization in China has been discussed hotly by many scholars after the 1980s. William (1990) has reviewed most studies dealing with the broader subject of rural urbanization including rural industry. The main fulllength works that emerged from this period were Chang (1990), Griffin (1984), Yao and Wu (1988) and Yeh (1995). Despite the considerable volume of past and ongoing research on rural urbanization, until recently few studies had concentrated specifically on the micro scale rural urbanization process. The process of rural urbanization can be generally understood as the transformation of a rural area into an urban one. Its main idea is transferring the population’s status from a rural into an urban one. The motive power of urbanization can be divided into two types: one es from cities, or rather, from the diffusion of urban industry to outside areas and the construction of stateowned enterprises and key projects. In this case, the motivating power es from above, and the process of urbanization is characterized by a development from the top down. The other type of power stems from the countryside, . the socioeconomic development of rural areas, and its local industry[1]. This process es from the bottom, represented by gradual development. In the course of rural urbanization, the agricultural nature of the region is declining, being replaced by urban features until gradually turning into an urban area. This paper aims to provide a better understanding of the present process of rural urbanization taking place in Wuxi and Jiangyin, two counties in China’s most developed area of Southern Jiangsu Province. Specifically, it tries to define the micro socioeconomic characteristics of ongoing rural urbanization. 2 Characteristics of rural urbanization in Wuxi and Jiangyin The rural urbanization process can be traced back to the 1960s, when the people’s munes began building factories to support their agricultural activities. As agricultural productivity increased, due to the restriction of rural urban migration, a surplus labor force was formed in the rural areas. Rural industries emerged to employ this surplus labor in the countryside, and rural industrialization and urbanization thus began. The process started slowly。 and rural urbanization is still the dominant process in rural areas. However, there is a trend on the one hand that rural population migrating to large or mediumsized cities will gradually increase. On the other hand, as rural urbanization accelerates, some township towns might grow into small towns and further bee small cities. Finally, a few of them might even grow into mediumsized cities. At that time, the transfer of population and the pattern of urbanization will no longer be limited to rural urbanization. In conclusion, we believe that selfnegation will be inevitable when rural urbanization has developed to a certain stage, and rural urbanization will remain as a form of transition. 4 Applicability of rural urbanization to other areas Recent development in Wuxi and Jiangyin indicates that rural urbanization is suitable for these counties. But whether or not rural urbanization is suitable to other areas depends on the condition of those areas. From the experience in Wuxi and Jiangyin, it seems that a socioeconomic environment for rural industrialization is also essential for rural urbanization. The present social and economic conditions in China make it necessary for urbanization to take industrialization as its premise, and so does rural urbanization. Without rural industrialization, rural areas may bee prosperous by relying on the development of sideline activities and the tertiary sector. However, that would not promote urbanization and, consequently, a large number of rural people would not be transferred into urban population. Rural industrialization does not necessarily mean a scattered development of rural industry. As a matter of fact, it is a process of rural industrial development on a large scale, where the economic structure of the whole region is gradually transformed. Hence, rural industrialization must rely on convenient transportation, an efficient market system, a high quality of labor, and a close cooperation with the cities. In the case of China, only the rural areas around large cities offer these requirements presently Besides, urbanization is not an inevitable result