China faces social, financial risks in urbanization push

China's urbanization drive could fuel social unrest over land disputes and pose financial risks if money is thrown around recklessly, a senior communist party official and a leading economist said on Thursday.

Shifting people from the countryside to cities is a policy priority for China's new leaders as they seek to sustain economic growth that last year slowed to a 13-year low of 7.8 percent. The government hopes 60 percent of China's population of almost 1.4 billion will be urban residents by 2020.