New Five-Year Plan Aims to Reduce Beijing's Population
By Justine Lopez
Beijing recently announced yet another five-year plan relating to the city’s economic and social development. One major objective of the new plan is to limit the population to 23 million by 2020, the China Daily reports. This is the first time Beijing has put a cap in its population.
In addition, the capital aims to reduce the number of residents in six specific districts by 15 percent from the population numbers in 2014. The districts include Xicheng, Dongcheng, Chaoyang, Fengtai, Haidian and Shijingshan. The goal is to reduce the number from 12.76 million (as of 2014) to 10.84 by 2020.
According to Lu Yan, director of Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission, the plan is to relocate many residents to new cities outside of Beijing by 2020. However, Lu added that certain areas in the capital – such Dongcheng’s Palace Museum area and Xicheng’s Beijing Zoo area – will be focused on first and relocations are expected to be completed this year.
Beijing has already begun relocating factories and administrative, educational and medical facilities outside of town to places like Hebei province and Tianjin. In the wake of these efforts, the populations in Xicheng and Dongcheng have both seen a decline in recent years. However, Beijing’s overall population has still increased.
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