China's Changing Population: Where People Are Moving

In 2024, eight areas in China saw their populations grow. This happened because more people moved into cities. Experts say two main reasons caused these changes. Some babies were born there. Others moved from different places.

The eight growing areas are all over the country. They include Xinjiang, Xizang, and Shaanxi in the west. They also include Zhejiang, Anhui, and Fujian in the east. The last two are Guangdong and Hainan in the south. Meanwhile, 19 other areas had fewer people. The populations of Jiangsu and Tianjin stayed the same. China's total population fell for the third year in a row. It dropped by 1.39 million to 1.408 billion people. This drop happened because fewer babies are being born.

A population expert named Wang Jinying described three ways areas grew. The first way is people moving in. Places like Zhejiang and Guangdong have strong economies and many jobs. This attracted people from other parts of China. Guangdong's population grew by 740,000 people. Zhejiang's grew by 430,000. Xinjiang has also drawn new residents for work.

The second way is people returning home. Provinces like Anhui, Shaanxi, and Fujian used to have slower economies. Many people left to find work. Now, their economies are growing faster. This has slowed the number of people leaving. It has also brought some people back. However, their population growth is still small.

The third way is natural growth. This happens when more babies are born than people die. Wang said this model is seen in Xizang and Hainan.