China’s biggest cities losing appeal as rising costs and job uncertainties give second-tier locales a boost
- With tens of millions of people, mass lay-offs and rising living costs, traditionally first-tier cities are seeing their populations decline or stagnate
- Last year, Beijing’s population of 21.89 million decreased by about 4,000, while places such as Chengdu added nearly a quarter-million residents
China’s first-tier cities are losing their lustre as mass lay-offs and rising costs are increasingly driving people to seek a life in secondary cities such as Chengdu and Hangzhou amid the economic headwinds facing the country.
Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou used to be the most glamorous cities in China, heavily coveted by young people and college graduates. Yet, the latest data shows that the populations of these cities have either declined or stagnated.
In 2021, the number of residents in Beijing stood at 21.89 million, down about 4,000 people compared with a year earlier, according to the Beijing Bureau of Statistics. In 2017, Beijing’s official population decreased for the first time in 20 years.
Population growth in traditionally alluring economic powerhouses Shanghai and Guangzhou also slowed last year. Shanghai added only 10,700 people to its 24.89 million.
And Guangzhou, a magnet for migrant workers, added just 70,000 people to its 18.81 million, down from nearly half a million in 2020 and its fewest new residents in 11 years.
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The pandemic has accelerated the population outflow from top-tier megacities. Mass lay-offs from various sectors, pay cuts, continued inflation rates and weak economic expectations have added great uncertainty to career outlooks.
In the meantime, with more affordable housing, second-tier cities such as Chengdu and Hangzhou are becoming increasingly appealing.
With a similar population to that of Beijing, Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan province, saw 245,000 more residents by the end of 2021, compared with a year earlier. In the past 10 years, Chengdu’s population has increased by more than 5.8 million people.
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“Second-tier cities have risen to prominence,” said Peng Peng, executive chairman of the Guangdong Society of Reform, a think tank with ties to the provincial government.
According to a report published last month by Liepin, a recruitment service, high-end talents are have been increasingly drawn to less-traditional destinations for work in the past five years.
Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province and the headquarters of tech giant Alibaba, is also a major destination for the migrating population.
Liepin showed that the city ranked first in new job openings, number of jobseekers and salary level, thanks largely to policies that help global talents set up local businesses and earn residency in the city.
Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
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Meanwhile, other second-tier cities such as Wuhan, Xian and Changsha have rolled out policies to make it easier for college graduates to earn local residency under the household registration system known as hukou, which is required to buy local property and send children to school.
The population reshuffle will benefit economic development and can help optimise resources, Peng said.
“The concentration of population and talents clustered in a small number of top cities is detrimental to the sustainable development of the country’s economy and hampers the efficient integration of national resources.”
