Permanent residents in Beijing, or holders of "hukou" -- a residence certificate -- issued by Beijing's public security authorities, have topped 11.7 million, according to the municipal government.

Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission said the number of permanent residents in Beijing has risen 2 percent in the first half of this year, higher than the 1.5 percent year-on-year growth projected for the whole year.

Plus the growing number of migrants, the city is bulging with about 15 million people, the commission said in a report to the Beijing Municipal People's Congress, the city's legislature, on the city's economic and social development during the first half-year.

Beijing Municipal Statistics Bureau already announced earlier the city's population was nearing 15 million, 3.6 times of the figure reported in 1949, the year New China was founded.

The bureau said Beijing's population has risen by an annual average of 195,000 over the past 55 years, but the annual increase was 290,000 in the 14 years from 1991 to 2004. The migrant population, particularly rural laborers from other provinces who are doing odd jobs in Beijing, accounted for 63 percent of population growth in this period.

Yin Zhigang, head of Beijing Institute of Demography, said Beijing's population must not exceed 18 million by 2020 and the number of permanent residents should be kept around 13.5 million -- which means the city has to control the increase of "hukou" holders to just 1.5 percent annually.

(Xinhua News Agency July 24, 2005)