A Chinese government plan has identified 262 resource-dependent cities, those that are rich in natural resources, in a bid to roll out targeted measures to guide their development.

Released on Tuesday, the plan, which is the first national framework on sustainable development of resource-dependent cities, put the cities into four categories based on their resource sustainability -- namely "growing," "mature," "declining" and "regenerative."

Yunnan, Liaoning and Henan are the top three provinces that have the highest concentration of such cities.

Central authorities will extend fiscal and policy support to facilitate their restructuring and upgrading efforts including accelerating shanty town renovation and boosting employment, according to the plan.