Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan has urged relevant departments to publicize and implement the Law on Urban and Rural Planning to achieve comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development in cities and rural areas.

Zeng made the comment in a written message to a teleconference on the publicity and implementation of the law, which was held in Beijing on Wednesday.

The law was adopted by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), the top legislature, on Oct. 28 and is scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2008.

In his message, the vice premier urged all staff of government planning departments, especially leading officials, to be aware of the importance of the law, so as to increase their sense of responsibility and mission for the work of urban and rural planning. He also called for increasing transparency and public participation in urban and rural planning.

Wang Guangtao, minister of construction, presided over the meeting, which was attended by heads of the planning departments of 30 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, as well as the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, a provincial-level administrative unit set up in the 1950s.

(Xinhua News Agency December 27, 2007)