More than 20 provincial-level regions in China have released their 2022 local population data, with at least 14 recording increases in the number of permanent residents.
Experts said that change in population in one place will rely more on the movement of migrant workers rather than natural birth, encouraging provinces and regions to boost local industrial development and make full use of their local advantages to attract labor, especially top talent.
Most of the 14 places that had an increase in the permanent population are located in eastern and southern China, including Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui provinces, and Hainan Province.
Among them, Zhejiang topped the list with an increase of 370,000 permanent residents. There was an increase of more than 100,000 in Central China's Hubei, East China's Anhui, Jiangxi and Jiangsu as well as Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, according to media reports.
Population in the Chinese mainland declined for the first time in 61 years in 2022, decreasing by 850,000, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics of China showed in July 2022.
