Urban China

Urban centers first started to appear in China during the Shang Dynasty, but it was during the Song Dynasty when cities changed from mostly administrative duties to centers of commerce. People were allowed to move freely between urban and  rural China and many did so for work. This was called floating population. These rural residents that traveled to urban cities for work enjoyed a lot less of the opportunities and benefits than the people who lived in the urban cities. During the socialist era most of the Chinese city centers were political and administrative as well as economic centers. During the reform era more balanced development was sought. To have a greater balance between large, medium and small cities would be beneficial to the entire Chinese economy.