Beijing to Keep Urban Population under 6.5m by Moving out 250,000 People

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, December 03, 2001

Beijing to Keep Urban Population under 6.5m by Moving out 250,000 People

Beijing is to keep its urban population at 6.5 million by 2010 and 250,000 people will be moved out of old urban areas to the outskirts in the years to come. Of the 6.5 million urban populations, 4.5 million will be living in central city and 2 million in the surrounding areas. While people living in the old urban area will be gradually moved out to lower their number to under 1.5 million by 2010 from 1990's 1.75 million.

According to city development plan, Beijing is to keep its urban population at 6.5 million by 2010 and 250,000 people will be moved out of old urban areas to the outskirts in the years to come.

Now Beijing is speeding up construction of 10 areas in the suburbs in an effort to attract urban inhabitants to move out.

Of the 6.5 million urban populations, 4.5 million will be living in central city and 2 million in the surrounding areas. While people living in the old urban area will be gradually moved out to lower their number to under 1.5 million by 2010 from 1990's 1.75 million.

The gross density of residence in developed countries is normally kept under 400 people per hectare, while for Beijing the figure is at present kept at 800 people per hectare. Beijing's urban area refers to the vast region of 1040 square kilometers extending from Dingfuzhuang in the east to Shijiangshan on the west and from Qinghe at the north to Nanyuan by the south.

Among the ten suburban sites under construction, Wangjing and Qinghe have already taken shapes and Dongba and Fatou are still of potential. To attract urban people to move out, as experts say, a good job must be done in the construction of such supportive facilities as transportation, education, business and health and medicare so as to create a comfortable living environment.

Beijing's Population over 12.8 Million

The latest statistics from the fifth Beijing census reveals that the population of Beijing has exceeded 12.8 million.

The census office carried out the check of registered permanent residence from August 1st to 20th. The result shows that there are 11,003,357 registered permanent residents in Beijing while people staying here over half a year amount to 1,842,363. The total population is 12,845,720.

The current population in Beijing has two outstanding features. One is that 2.91 million people do not live in where their registered permanent residences belong to, amounting for 27% of the total population. The other is that the number of people from other cities is very large. Among them, those who have stayed in Beijing more than half a year are 1.842 million, which stands above 15% of the total population.

Population History

According to the changes in population numbers by natural growth and social movement such as migration, floating population and administrative border expansion, the population of Beijing has gone through five periods as follows:

The first period, 1949-1960, was characterized as the highest growth period. The city's population was increased to 3.18 million people mainly due to the expansion of city boundaries. The total population has grown rapidly with the annual growth rate being 5.3 percent in the 11 year period, i.e. growing from 4.14 million in 1949 to 7.32 million in 1960.

The second period, 1961-1970, was defined as the low growth period, since a large number of workers and cadres who were recruited in 1958-1959, namely "the Great Leap Forward" period, returned to rural areas during the economically difficult period of 1960-1962. The increment of population in this period, including natural increase and net migration, was about 391,200 persons in 10 years. The yearly growth rate is only 0.52 percent.

The third period, 1971-1978, showed some reduction in natural growth, but migration rebounded since some migrants returned to Beijing after economic growth resumed. The total population in Beijing increased by 784,000 persons in this period, with the annual growth rate being 1.2 percent.

The fourth period, 1979-1990, was influenced by high growth caused by population momentum and the tide of migrants flowing into the city since China��s opening and reforms. The population growth rates were expressed as cyclic changes, with the yearly average increasing by 1.6 percent. About 1.83 million people were added to the Beijing population in this period.

The present period, from 1991 to date, could be characterized by low natural growth rates and large increments in population numbers. Even with a low population growth rate, with a base population of more than 10 million persons, the size of the increments in Beijing cannot be ignored.

By PD Online Staff Li Heng

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