Beijing seeks to curb floating population

Beijing will strive to eliminate businesses that attract too many members of the floating population in order to curb explosive population growth, which is taking place too fast and without order, according to the municipality's Party chief.

Guo Jinlong made the announcement at a plenary meeting of the municipal committee of the Communist Party of China, which focused on the strategic positioning of Beijing, China News Service reported.

The aim of the move is to limit the population growth and construction of the downtown area, and attempt to channel the population into new towns, small towns and nearby areas, said Guo.

Comprehensive measures will be adopted, such as "controlling the population by controlling business categories," "cracking down on illegal suburban house construction," strengthening regulations over rental houses, especially underground rooms and rooms shared by group residents, and launching a new residence permit as soon as possible.

Experts said the government will relocate restricted industries outside the city, such as the production of furniture, building materials, garment and small commodity wholesale markets.

Beijing's population reached 21.15 million at the end of last year, far exceeding the previously planned target of 18 million by 2020, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics announced in January, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

In December, Beijing Mayor Wang Anshun said, "Resolutely controlling the population's excessive growth is the key to solving multiple problems, such as traffic and environmental problems."

In 2013, the city's roads were clogged for one hour and 55 minutes on average every work day, an increase of 25 minutes from 2012, the Beijing Times reported.

Beijing has about 190 cubic meters per capita in water resources, far lower than the international level of 500 cubic meters, said Yin Deting, deputy head of the Beijing Population Research Institute, people.com.cn reported.

Xia Xueluan, a sociologist from Peking University, supports the policy. "The policy aims to resolve the population problem at the root by moving out industries which the migrant population follows," Xia told the Global Times.

However, other sociologists expressed doubts. Lu Jiehua, a fellow professor of sociology at Peking University, believes the authorities should decide on the industrial layout and let the market determine which jobs become available.

Lu worries that this new round of population control will once again have the greatest impact on low-income groups. "Even the so-called high-end population needs services from middle and low-end laborers, while the latter also require the basic needs of shelter and food for themselves," Lu said. He added that the Beijing government had mostly relied on strict limits on housing and residency permits in an attempt to push out temporary migrant workers.

According to the Economy & Nation Weekly, nearly 5 million migrants, about 70 percent of the total migrant population, live in Beijing's rural areas, which are not well planned or managed.