Beijing is planning to cap its resident population at 23 million by 2020, according to a city planning document approved by China's central authorities.

 

By the end of 2016, the capital housed 21.7 million permanent residents, with a year-on-year increase of 0.1 percent, or 24-thousand people. Beijing also set the goal of reducing the amount of land for construction use to about 2-thousand 800 square kilometers by 2020, and to 2-thousand 700 square kilometers by 2035. The document pointed out that environmental and resource capacity were the primary considerations for city planning. It also said population and construction control measures will allow the city to transform its development mode and upgrade its industries.