(ECNS) -- A total of nine provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions in China have published population data for 2022 as of Feb. 21, among which eight saw a population growth of permanent residents.
Except for Henan, the eight regions, including Anhui, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Guizhou, Gansu, Qinghai, Chongqing, and Hainan have seen permanent resident population growth.
Among them, Anhui, Jiangxi, and Guangxi recorded a growth of over 100,000 people in 2022 compared with the end of 2021.
By the end of 2022, the population in Hainan, Guizhou, Gansu, Qinghai, and Chongqing increased over 65,000, 40,000, 20,000, 10,000 and 9,000 respectively compared with the end of 2021.
However, data from the National Statistics Bureau shows that by the end of 2022, the Chinese mainland population was 1.41175 billion, a decrease of 850,000 over that at the end of 2021, while the natural population growth rate was minus 0.60 per thousand, down by 0.94 permillage points from the previous year.
Feng Wenmeng, director of Research Office of Research Department of Social Development, Development Research Center of the State Council, pointed out that most of the eight areas are in central and western China.
According to Feng, on the one hand, the fertility level in central and western regions is higherthan that of the eastern region. On the other hand, the return of people who seek external employment boosted the permanent population increase with industries gradually transferred to central and western regions.
The natural population growth rates of Guizhou, Qinghai, Hainan, Guangxi and Jiangxi provinces were all positive, among which Guizhou hit 3.71 per thousand, Qinghai 3.37, Hainan 2.44, Guangxi 1.43, and Jiangxi, 0.25.
From the perspective of population mobility, Feng said that in recent years, some provinces in central and western regions have recorded rapid economic growth, and have issued a series of policies to attract talents and permanent residents.
For instance, in 2022, the resident population of Anhui increased by 140,000. Data shows that Anhui's GDP in 2022reached 4,504.5 billion yuan (about $653.35 billion), an increase of 3.5 percent over the previous year, larger than Shanghai.
It has transitioned from a traditional agricultural province to a gathering place of emerging industries since it was integrated into the national development strategy forthe Yangtze River Delta.
Another example is Jiangxi, where the resident population increased by 105,800 in 2022. Its GDP in 2022 increased by 1.4 percent year-on-year, ranking first in the country with Fujian. Jiangxi's GDP in 2022 reached 3,207.47 billion yuan, exceeding 3 trillion yuan.
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