When Beijing drops a hint that they want you to go, people listen.
22,000 permanent residents decided to leave the capital last year, local statisticians told a press conference last week. The 0.1 percent drop in population leaves Beijing with 21,707,000 permanent residents.
The drop-off comes after a year in which local authorities implemented several policies to combat overpopulation that included shutting downcommodity markets and illegal structures, moving non-essential municipal services out of the city, and even an unsuccessful attempt to relocate elderly residents.
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The last significant loss in population for the city was in 1997 when it recorded 19,400 fewer residents.
The Beijing press conference was mirrored by a similar drop-off over in China's other overcrowded first-tier city. Shanghai authorities reported a 13,700 decrease in permanent residents at the end of 2017, leaving the city with 24,183,000 people.
The two announcements signify the first simultaneous drop in population for Beijing and Shanghai in 40 years, and are in keeping with orders by the State Council to cap the population of China's top leading cities.
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According to government plans, Beijing's population is to be capped at 23 million by 2020 while Shanghai must impose a limit of 25 million residents until 2030. The drop-off in population has long been predicted, and had already resulted in a zero-population growth rate in 2015.
In 1978, Beijing's population was just 8.71 million people.
Meanwhile, the country's other cities continue to grow at a fast pace as China's citizens become increasingly urbanized.
As Beijing and Shanghai's populations stagnate, Chengdu and Chongqing steadily increase in size with the latter boasting a growth rate of 4.8 percent. Meanwhile, Guangdong cities like Guangzhou and Shenzhen continue to attract new arrivals from southern Chinese provinces like Sichuan, Hubei, and Hebei.
Additionally, last week's Beijing press conference also revealed that its residents are becoming richer as signs indicate the overheated housing industry may be cooling down.
Beijing's per capita disposable income rose 9 percent last year to 57,230 yuan while construction for commercial housing decreased 4 percent to 12.6 million square meters.
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Twitter: @Sinopath
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