China’s 10 Most Populous Cities: Four Cities with Over 20 Million People
Chongqing ranks first among all cities in the country with a population of 32,052,000. Of course, Chongqing covers a total area of 82,400 square kilometers, which is equivalent to a small or medium-sized county.
After Chongqing, Shanghai ranks second with a population of 24,870,900, and Beijing ranks third with 21,893,100. The population growth of the two cities has not entered the top ten in the past ten years, because Beijing and Shanghai have successively proposed the policy of population relief and control in the urban areas of the first-tier cities, to solve problems such as overcrowding, traffic congestion, environmental system and so on. After the population of the two cities peaked around 2014, their growth has been slow since 2015.
The permanent resident population of Chengdu, which ranks fourth, exceeded 20 million for the first time, reaching 20.938 million, an increase of 5.8189 million compared with the sixth national census in 2010.
Guangzhou and Shenzhen, two first-tier cities in southern China, are also not far behind 20 million. Data from the seventh census showed that the permanent population of Guangzhou was 18.6766 million, an increase of 5.9758 million compared with 2010. The permanent population of Shenzhen reached 17.56 million, an increase of 7.14 million compared with 2010. Among them, Shenzhen’s newly increased population in the past ten years ranked first in the country.
According to Zheng Yujie, director of the research and information department of China Comprehensive Development Research Institute (Shenzhen), Shenzhen’s industrial environment and talent policies are relatively good. At the same time, Shenzhen is the city with the most advanced high-tech industries, and the development of high-tech industries has attracted a large influx of talent.
