Beijing to try to cap population at 23 million by 2020

Chinese capital grapples with severe water scarcity, made worse by pollution of rivers and groundwater.

March 06, 2015 05:40 pm | Updated November 16, 2021 05:15 pm IST - BEIJING

Policemen stand guard at a railway station in Beijing February 16, 2015. Chinese Ministry of Transport said a total of 2.807 billion trips are expected to be made during the 40-day Spring Festival travel rush, which started on February 4 and will last until March 16, Xinhua News Agency reported. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon (CHINA - Tags: TRANSPORT SOCIETY)

Policemen stand guard at a railway station in Beijing February 16, 2015. Chinese Ministry of Transport said a total of 2.807 billion trips are expected to be made during the 40-day Spring Festival travel rush, which started on February 4 and will last until March 16, Xinhua News Agency reported. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon (CHINA - Tags: TRANSPORT SOCIETY)

Beijing will try to cap its population at 23 million in 2020, Vice Mayor Li Shixiang said on Friday, even as the Chinese capital grapples with a severe water shortage.

With a population of 21.5 million people last year, Beijing already exceeds the 2020 target of 18 million set in 2005. The city's population has expanded rapidly in recent years with people migrating from other parts of the country seeking jobs.

That has created severe pressure on Beijing and surrounding areas where water scarcity has been made worse by widespread pollution of rivers and groundwater.

"Beijing wants to restrict the population to no more than 23 million by 2020," said Li.

Beijing is short of 1.5 billion cubic metres of water a year, Li told a gathering of Beijing delegates to the annual meeting of China's parliament.

While the south-north water transfer project will partially ease the shortage, it will not solve the whole problem, he added, referring to the country's ambitious project to divert water from the humid south to arid northern provinces and Beijing.

The controversial project is targeted to supply a third of the Beijing's water.

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