Guangzhou would strive to keep its total permanent population under 9.7 million by 2005, a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Guangzhou Municipal Committee of the CPC said Tuesday.

Of the total, 8.25 million would be in urban areas and the rest in rural areas, according to the plan. The city's population now exceeds 7 million.

There were about 135 to 218 square kilometers of land available for construction.

Guangzhou also aims to become one of China's most attractive cities with one of the best investment environments. By 2005, the city will have achieved 10 square meters of parkland per capita and become a model city for natural environment.

The meeting also promised to create more than 150,000 jobs each year. But it was far from being able to meet the demand of the city's laid-off employees whose numbers were increasing each year. There were also 780,000 registered migrant workers.

(Shenzhen Daily September 3, 2003)