Beijing's population exceeds 19.6 million
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Beijing now contains 19.6 million residents, with migrants from other provinces mainly contributing to the rapid growth, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics said in a statement Thurday.
Zhai Zhenwu, professor from Renmin University of China said, the government should respond to the quick rise in the migrant population by adjusting its population policy and carrying out scientific urban planning.
According to the sixth national census, conducted in November last year, Beijing's population is now 19.612 million, up by 44.5 percent or 6.043 million people from ten years ago.
The number of permanent Beijing residents who originally come from other regions of China has doubled to 7.045 million, with an average annual growth rate of 10.6 percent and accounting for 35.9 percent of the city's total permanent residents. The ratio is a significant increase over the 18.9 percent from 10 years ago.
This means that one out of every three permanent Beijing residents is a migrant from outside of Beijing.
"Ten years ago, one in every five Beijing residents was a migrant,as opposed to one in three now.Beijing's population growth has skyrocketed because of the 'swarming in' of migrant people," said Gu Yanzhou, deputy director of the municipal statistics bureau.
"The huge migrant influx will bring challenges to city managers in the future, however, Beijing's economic and social development also depends on new and innovative talents from other regions, as well as a steady supply of labor," Gu added.
And the influx of migrants, who are largely between the ages of 15 and 60, has helped to alleviate Beijing's aging problem, Gu said.
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