Nearly one out of three people in Beijing belongs to the mobile population, according to the capital's population and family planning commission.
The commission's deputy director is Li Yunli. She said the municipality's mobile population hit 5.4 million in October, accounting for nearly 30 percent of the total.
More than 80 percent of the capital's mobile population belongs to the China-unique category of rural migrant workers, Li told a conference on population in Beijing on Monday. The remaining are mostly people visiting for less than a month.
She added that migrant workers would comprise the vast majority of both the capital's and the nation's mobile population for a long time to come. Currently, the total national mobile population is 150 million.
The most recent influx of migrant workers boosted the capital's population to about 17.4 million in October, signaling Beijing's population would likely exceed its threshold of 18 million earlier than previous forecasts, Li said.
The total population would continue to grow in Beijing over the next five or 10 years, Li said. "That would further strain scarce resources, including land, water and energy."
Previous research has suggested that accommodating more than 14 million residents would exceed Beijing's food- and water-supply capacities.
As of October, over 130,000 people were born in Beijing in 2007; more than one-third of them were born to migrant families, Li said. And according to her, next year there will be even more.
Earlier, deputy director of the State Population and Family Planning Commission Wang Guoqing was quoted by Xinhua news agency. He said, "Family planning among migrant workers is crucial to China's overall family planning, and the construction of a new socialist countryside and a harmonious society."
In addition, most migrant workers in Beijing work labor-intensive jobs in fields such as manufacturing, home furnishing, catering, cleaning, and domestic services.
Most migrant workers received little education, with 60 percent of them dropping out after junior middle school mainly because of financial problems, Li explained.
More than half of them earn less than 1,200 yuan ($160) per month and live in poorly equipped rental rooms, Li added.
Qin Xiaoying is a Researcher with China Foundation for International and Strategic Studies. He said that if migrant workers remain economically and socially marginalized, mental anguish could flourish among the demographic and threaten social stability.
The commission urged governments at all levels to improve public services for the migrant population, protect their legal rights and interests, and reduce discrimination against them.
Questions:
1.What was Beijing’s population as of October?
2.Previous research has suggested a total population of how many people would strain Beijing’s scarce resources?
3.What percentage of migrant workers drop out after junior middle school mainly because of financial problems?
Answers:
1.17.4 million.
2.14 million.
3.60 percent.
（英语点津 Celene 编辑）
About the broadcaster:
Jonathan Stewart is a media and journalism expert from the United States with four years of experience as a writer and instructor. He accepted a foreign expert position with chinadaily.com.cn in June 2007 following the completion of his Master of Arts degree in International Relations and Comparative Politics.
