Beijing's population drops for six consecutive years

BEIJING, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Beijing, China's first megacity to achieve population reduction, has kept its permanent population below the 23 million cap for six consecutive years since 2017, according to a municipal conference held on Thursday.

According to a report by the research team of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, while Beijing's population remains stable, its distribution is becoming more balanced.

The capital's core functional areas and central urban districts have witnessed constant population declines, while the city's sub-center, new towns, and ecological conservation areas have experienced population growth, according to the report.

The report showed that this shift is creating a more distributed population structure, with the proportion of residents in the six central districts decreasing from 60 percent in 2015 to 50 percent by 2023, while the share of the ten outlying districts increased accordingly.

Beijing also stands out for its high concentration of talent, boasting the highest density of talent in China. Three-quarters of this talent pool are concentrated in the six central districts. Additionally, the city's life expectancy in 2020 reached 82.49 years, which is 4.56 years higher than the national average.

The research team emphasized that Beijing should continue its dual approach of relieving overburdened areas while supporting emerging ones. Coordination between central urban districts and new towns as well as integration within the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is crucial.

Gu Shuzhong, a researcher at the Development Research Center of the State Council, suggested that achieving a balanced distribution of work and residential areas across the city is essential, and the city should orderly relocate municipal universities and state-owned enterprises from central districts to outer areas.