ABSTRACT
The aggregate urban figures are subdivided into three phases: 1949 to 1960, 1961 to 1976 and 1977 to 1982. The growth in China's urban size in this first phase was even more extraordinary — an annual average rate of increase over four times that of total population. The impact of migration on urban population growth increased greatly towards the end of the first decade of the People's Republic. The establishment of the People's Republic brought to an end China's millennial low rate of population growth. The impact of migration on urban population growth increased greatly towards the end of the first decade of the People's Republic. The food shortages caused by the Great Leap Forward continued into 1961, when China's total population showed a further reduction. The brunt of the post-Great Leap Forward crisis was borne by China's rural areas. Even in the worst year the urban population continued to show a positive rate of natural increase.
