BEIJING, March 3 -- China will continue to move factories from overcrowded cities to cheaper locales and transform old urban industrial areas over the next few years, with the aim of basically completing the process by 2022, the country's top economic planning agency said Thursday.

It is the country's latest move to improve urban planning to achieve sustainable economic and social development.

Although relocating and transforming old urban industrial zones is a difficult task, the push will help ease pressure on mega-cities and drive economic growth in the long run, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a statement on its website.

"Our aim is to transform old industrial zones into prosperous and livable urban areas," the statement said.

So far, 100 old urban industrial areas have created transformation plans. The NDRC has provided financial support to 86 industrial zones over the past three years.